The Hidden Marauder
by SiriuslyStupendous
Summary: 'Riddled with grief, Katherine abandoned the Wizarding world and hid away. She vowed only to return when her loved ones needed her the most, even though she knew that it would hurt her as much as them to keep such a promise. Now, was that time.' Set in the Order of the Phoenix - T for Language, and themes of Violence & Romance - Updates on Wednesdays - R & R! - OC x Sirius Black
1. The Hiding Place

_A/N - Hello lovelies. It's been a week since my exams have finished, and I have been working SOLIDLY on this for the past few days. I've now actually written a good 25,000 words, so you're guaranteed an update every week on Wednesdays! You can even have a look at some corresponding graphics and a sneak preview of the next chapter each week at thehiddenmarauder . tumblr .com/ - (A preview of Chapter Two is up now!) See you next Wednesday, and enjoy!_

**REVIEW | STORY ALERT | AUTHOR ALERT ** (Make my day?:-))

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**DISCLAIMER: WARNING; in this book, there will be _constant_ (AKA- A LOT OF) quotes from 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'. Speech, where it can be, will be kept the same as in the original. This is to make sure that it stays consistent with what happens in the original series, and that those who have not read the original series are able to read this online 'book'. All credit for already existing characters, quotes and phrases is wholly J.K Rowling's, (the genius). **You can buy an e-version of the Order of the Phoenix on 'Pottermore', or a feasible copy on ' Amazon'. If you haven't already got it, **get it.**

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-CHAPTER ONE-

_The Hiding Place_

'_We may have lost that battle, but we have won the war.'_

The phrase was repeated over and over to the completely and utterly devastated members of the Order of the Phoenix after the loss of Lily and James Potter. The majority of the members of the secretive society were solemn over the loss – yes, but could recover with time. There were also, however, people whom could not see an end to their mourning.

One of these people, was Katherine Mercer.

The death of James Potter, someone who was a brother figure to the young, scarlet haired woman, was something she would not be able to recover from. All of the memories they shared – the stories and jokes they would swap, would be forever forgotten. His death had raised speculation as to whom had committed the killing curse, and without reasonable evidence, Sirius Black – another of Katherine's closest friends had been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban; a soul draining prison. Peter had disappeared, not that she was particularly fond of the rat faced man anyway, and Remus was attempting to come to terms with what he was born to be.

A werewolf.

Riddled with grief, Katherine abandoned the Wizarding world and hid away. She vowed only to return when her loved ones needed her the most, even though she knew that it would hurt her as much as them to keep such a promise. She did not want to leave them, but she felt it was necessary. She felt that she needed to recover from her losses – to become stronger, wittier, braver; to be the best she could possibly be.

She was assured that she would be needed again. One might have assumed that Katherine Mercer was a pessimist, but in actuality she was an assured realist. And in Katherine's eyes, it was absolutely inevitable that Voldemort would rise once again.

* * *

"What on earth were you _thinking_?" Molly Weasley, a plump, ginger haired woman shouted; any light-hearted atmosphere that had been present at the dinner table long forgotten. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other people Molly considered too young to be involved in matters concerning the Dark Lord had been dismissed, and she was now not opposed to voicing her frustration with the situation that she had been observing. "The boy is barely _fifteen_, and you want him to know more than he already does about the most evil man in the _world_?"

Sirius shook his head, brushing stray strands of dark hair away from his pale forehead with a couple of slim fingers. He leant forward so that he was closer to Molly before defending himself. "I was merely satiating the boy's curiosity. If I hadn't, do you not believe that Harry would have attempted to listen to the Order's meetings? Possibly finding out more than he needed to know and defeating your point entirely?"

Molly turned quickly to Remus, to catch his view on the situation, and to her disgruntlement he simply shrugged.

"He's right." Said Remus, coolly, "And you know it."

"DON'T BLOODY TELL ME WHAT I KNOW!" Molly roared, unable to hold back her anger with the situation, "DO YOU NOT THINK THAT I KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR MY SON?"

"He's not your son!" Argued Sirius, indignantly.

"He's as good as!"

"Well he's my godson!"

"Oh yes." Said Molly, sarcasm lacing her tone, "And you were the one looking after him for the past five years – not held in a criminal facility-"

"How was I supposed to avoid that?" Sirius replied angrily, his and Molly's cheeks taking on a slight pink tinge. "Do you think I _wanted_ to be there?"

"Regardless of what you wanted, you still _were_!"

"Come on," Said Remus, attempting to be a peace-bringer, "Let's calm down, shall we!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Molly and Sirius managed to yell simultaneously. Noticing this, their head's snapped from where they were glaring at Remus to glare at each other again.

"You know," Sirius sneered, "_You_ really should calm down. It's not that big of a dea-"

"Big of a deal?" Cried Molly, banging her fist on the long table in front of her, "You don't think that you-know-who is a big deal?"

"Of course I do! But telling a boy, who is just involved in this as we are, some helpful information isn't going to hurt him!"

"And how can you _possibly_ know that?"

"I can guess!"

"You can guess?" Yelled Molly incredulously, "Guessing can get you _killed_!"

"Not if it's about a piece of damn information! You're overreacti-"

"I AM NOT OVERREACTING!"

"And now you're cutting me off!" Exclaimed Sirius, raising his hands in exasperation before bringing his head down onto the cool, wooden surface of the table. "I give up. You're not listening."

"I'm not listening? You're not listening! Is it so bad to be trying to keep the boy safe?"

"And you think ignorance is going to assist him?" Murmured Sirius, his voice muffled slightly from the new position of his head.

"Yes!"

"Well it's too late to do anything about it n- Ouch!"

Bolting upright, Sirius rubbed a hand against the back of his head, ruffling his hair. He was sure that he'd felt some kind of scratching... Whatever it was, he decided, was stupidly sadistic. Glancing behind him, he almost fell off of his chair in shock at the sight of a dark brown, puffed up owl behind him, which proceeded to fly forwards and perch on the table. It held it's leg at an angle, waiting for Sirius to retrieve the black envelope tied neatly to it, cooing impatiently.

"Whose is that?" Asked Remus, raising an eyebrow, "How can it see the house?"

"Its owner must be a friend... or a relative." Sirius replied, his eyebrow raised, "But I don't recognise it..."

"Well then?" Molly said, her tone rising in what seemed to be anger, but her face only showed fear. "Aren't you going to read the letter?"

"I _was_ planning on it, after the damn bird butchered my head to give it to me." Grumbled Sirius, being surprisingly gentle in his untying of the ribbon and unwinding of it from the Owl's leg. As soon as the letter was removed, the owl took back into the air and flew out of the nearest window – disappearing as it blended into the night.

"Didn't wait for a reply then." Said Sirius, confusedly, "Now I'm really lost."

He flipped the black envelope around in his palm to view the seal – which was simply a dollop of red wax, with no particular symbol which would indicate the author. Whilst Molly was voicing pleas of hurrying and Remus was giving the letter wary gaze, Sirius was not concerned. From what he'd seen of those who followed the Dark Lord, they preferred to be ostentatious and obvious, whereas this person had deliberately been inconspicuous. The owl wasn't recognisable, his name wasn't on the front to give any prior warning to the author's handwriting – thus, their identity, and there was no crest on the seal.

In conclusion, Sirius had no idea who had sent it.

Giving in to his, now overwhelming, curiosity, Sirius slipped his index finger underneath the seal neatly and tore it open, his grey eyes almost glittering with excitement. He withdrew the strangely thin parchment – which Sirius recognised as muggle 'paper', which he unfolded nimbly, his eyes scanning the neat, quite clearly quill-written, text.

_Padfoot,_

_I trust this finds you safely, although I am no fool. I shall not disclose more than I would in a local place in order to avoid mishaps if this should fall into the wrong hands._

_I am alive and well, unlike what is seemingly believed throughout the Wizarding World. It is a shame that I am sorely underestimated in ability; although I am not offended. It is the only logical conclusion to have drawn, I suppose._

_Well done for escaping Azkaban, I shan't ask how, due to the fact that I am fearful of what I would receive as an answer. It concerns me that you may be sent back, but if you have already been hidden for two years, I will discount this as a possibility. I assume you must be staying somewhere secure – most likely the only place I am aware of with an existing Fidelius charm._

_I will join you soon; I promised myself a long time ago that I should only return to you when the time was right – when you needed my help and when I felt I was able to provide it. This is that time._

_I am uncertain as to where or how to contact Moony, although I am relatively sure that you do. If so, please pass the given message along – inform him that I shall be with you soon. I can explain everything else you wish to know then._

_Love always,_

_Mane_

"Bloody hell-" Said Sirius hoarsely, attempting to choke back a sob. As much as he succeeded, he did not succeed in preventing salty tears from travelling down his cheeks and onto his lap. For the life of him, he could not explain why he was crying – he could only assume it was from joy. Another of the marauders was _alive_, another one of his best friends had _survived_. Sirius had never found the time to properly mourn for the 'loss' of his friend, and only at this point in time did he realise why there had been a hole in his heart for so long. Only by filling it – by finding out that his friend was alive – did he find out that it had been empty. "Oh god..."

Remus' eyes, from across the room, were wide, watching his friend struggle with unsaid emotions. It was well known that Sirius was not one for crying often – in fact, the last time he'd seen him doing so was after the death of Lily and James; not even after he was sentenced to Azkaban did tears fall.

"Sirius?"

Sirius lifted his gaze to Remus', giving him a watery smile and ignoring the disbelieving stare of Molly, whose face showed only confusion.

"I-if you had been the one," Said Sirius, his voice rough, "to receive this letter, you'd be crying too. So don't look at me like that."

Remus raised an eyebrow in confusion, drawing his goblet of wine back up to his mouth. "What does it say?"

"Mane's alive."

Remus then proceeded to spit the wine that he had recently drank all over the hardwood table in front of him.

"Wh-what?"

"Our fifth marauder s-survived-"

"Give me that!" Said Remus, recovering from his impolite spraying of wine, standing from his chair and darting over to where Sirius was sat. Lifting the fragile paper into his hands, Remus' own eyes glanced over the words before he found himself growing tearful.

"But- how?"

"I guess we'll find out later." Replied Sirius, dashing away the wet trails on his face with the backs of his hands, "Now we're just missing James."

Remus smiled feebly back at Sirius, reluctantly taking his blurry gaze away from the paper in front of him. "Do you really think James would miss this?" He shook his head assuredly, "James is with us. Wherever you go when you die, whatever you do when you die – I'm sure Prongs is with us for this."

"God-damn it I hope so." Sirius replied, wistfully, "I'm pretty sure Mane would hope so too."

Molly glanced at both smiling men, her face still a stoic mask of confusion. She considered asking what exactly the both of them were referring to, but decided against it. When such darkness was heading towards the world – particularly towards those within the Order, Molly decided that it was opportune that happiness was preserved for as long as possible. Particularly in this case, Molly could not find it within herself to distract the two men from what was clearly making them both tearfully happy. As long as it were not dangerous – she decided that she could wait a while to ask what exactly it was that was making them so very content.

* * *

From outside of the doorway, the young adult saviours of the Wizarding World stood, staring at the extendable ear with wide eyes.

"A fifth marauder?" George said, furrowing his brows, "Did we-"

"-Catch that right?" Fred finished.

Harry nodded stiffly, his head pained with so many questions, "Yes."

"But there were only four names on the Marauder's Map." Said Hermione, knowledgably, "How could there be a fifth?"

Shrugging softly, Harry looked at the door with a thoughtful expression. "I don't know, Hermione. But if this 'Mane' was friends with Sirius, Remus and-" He swallowed heavily, "-my father, then they must be a good person, right?"

All of the young people nodded in agreement as Fred and George fished the extendable ear back from its hiding place.

"Enough snooping-"

"-for today folks."

And for once, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny simply nodded in agreement before trudging off to bed.

* * *

A few hours later, in a muggle town named 'Milton Keynes' a beautiful scarlet haired woman with porcelain skin stood, picking up a heavy bag from near the front door and beginning to pack various belongings from around her home into it.

Katherine found that her skills in magic had indeed improved over the years; as had using her social skills to get what she desired. After all, they were particularly necessary in a growing muggle city such as this one. She couldn't say that she would particularly miss where she'd been residing, though; as after all, the town had a record for one of the highest suicide rates in England. She recognised, however, that it had been helpful in her development as a person, and in turn, helpful in the safety of the world.

She day-dreamed as she packed, the process lengthier than she had previously anticipated, taking her quickly into the later hours of the morning. When she finally had finished, and had fished the handle out of the bag so that she could drag it along on wheels, Katherine smiled. The muggle world was great, sure, but the Wizarding World was home.

And Katherine was ready to be home.


	2. Mane

_A/N - I know it's a day early, but going camping tomorrow with friends, so won't be around! ...Yes, camping in England. It is June, but the forecast is cold & raining. Eurgh! Enjoy this Chapter regardless!:-D_

**REVIEW | STORY ALERT | AUTHOR ALERT **(Make my day?:-))

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-CHAPTER TWO-

_Mane_

The day grew quickly long and tiresome for the two marauders of 12 Grimmauld place. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and even Molly had attempted to encourage both men to talk about and share information on the infamous 'Mane', yet both stayed tight-lipped, only exchanging few words with one another. If the doorbell rang, which it did occasionally, announcing the arrival of Minerva McGonagall, Mundungus Fletcher or even Dumbledore himself, both characters had to physically restrain themselves from racing to the door. It didn't stop them from hoping each time that the person at the door each time was Mane and as the voice was revealed to be a Scottish stern tone, a criminal's drawl and a mysterious whimsical voice, they couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.

An hour after Dumbledore had come and gone, Remus and Sirius were beginning to doubt whether the letter they had received was real or not. They found themselves analysing the handwriting to the nearest detail- attempting to find proof that the Mane they had heard from was not Mane the marauder at all, but no such luck. Each detail they found was a supporting factor to the person's identity instead of a disproving factor, which left the men surprisingly disheartened, yet optimistic.

The room they were situated in – the lounge, was cosy, yet filled with an uncomfortable atmosphere. The young people wanted to know what on Earth was going on, Molly was still concerned about the safety of these people and Arthur was attempting to iron out any flaws in Harry's trial for the use of underage magic, which was the following day. Nothing was particularly jolly, and the tense atmosphere even made Ron and Harry's game of Wizarding chess far more competitive than it usually would have been.

"ARGH!" Screamed Kreacher, making all heads, bar Sirius and Remus', snap up and look to the entranceway of the room.

"Is he alright?" Hermione asked, now a devoted activist of SPEW. "He sounds troubled."

"Sounded exited to me." Said Ron grumbling as Harry was able to destroy one of his knights. "Maybe he killed a bloody rat or something."

"Ronald!" Molly and Hermione exclaimed in unison.

"Sorry." He mumbled, unconvincingly.

Only a moment later, the ragged house-elf practically skipped into the room, a large, rare grin spread across his usually wrinkled and grouchy face. His eyes practically glistened with joy, his body shaking with uncontrollable excitement.

"Miss Mercer has returned!" At this, Remus and Sirius' heads snapped up, "Pure, pure, Miss Mercer-!"

Looking at each other briefly, the two, before desolate, men rose from their seats suddenly- bolting from the room faster than Harry had ever seen either of them move. The remaining people in the living room looked at each other, each face portraying as much confusion and shock as the next.

"What was _that_ about?" Asked Arthur, his eyebrows furrowed, "Pouting all day, and then shooting out of their seats at the mention of a random woman?"

Molly frowned, going to stand from her seat, but George and Fred threw their hands out in protest.

"No! Mum – we should just-"

"-leave them be! We can always ask-"

"-Sirius and Lupin about the lady-"

"-When she's gone!"

Slumping down in defeat, Molly rested her head in her palm, waiting impatiently to erase her worried curiosity.

"Out of the way, Moony!"

"Bite me, Padfoot."

"Gladly! Later!"

An arm on both men's shoulders stopped them from running into the hardwood front-door of Grimmauld place. Musical, friendly, feminine laughter sounded from in front of them – a sound that made them stop glaring at each other and raise their heads. The sight which befell them made both marauder's eyes widen.

The scarlet lady, as they had sometimes referred to her, had changed hardly at all. Her beauty was still unrivalled, her skin still marvellously well looked after and smooth – her figure still one that would be envied by many. She was short, no doubt – at around 5"4, but they remember that she more than made up for it with her exuberant personality. Shocking crimson hair still fell from her shoulders in a messy fashion, a carefree smile still graced her lips, and her grey – blue eyes glimmered in joy at Sirius and Remus as they stared at her in shock.

"Thirteen years," She said softly, her palms drifting to both marauder's cheeks, "And you haven't aged a day."

"K-Katherine?" Remus asked, having to consciously prevent his jaw from dropping, "Is that you?"

Taking her hands away from her caring gesture and instead placing them on her hips, the woman raised a dark eyebrow.

"What do you think, Moony? Please tell me you haven't lost your brains..."

"It is you..." Said Sirius, drifting off with a grin.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mea-"

Katherine was cut off as she was swept into a tight, caring embrace from Sirius. Any frustrations either person had immediately dissipated as she breathed in his musky, masculine scent that could only be described as 'Sirius', and he inhaled in her floral, yet vanilla, perfume that only could belong to Katherine Mercer.

"Mane." He whispered into the crook of her neck, his lips in an everlasting smile.

"Padfoot." She replied, equally as giddy as he was.

As soon as Sirius had released her, Katherine swept a dejected looking Remus up into a similar hug, holding him tightly, as though he would disintegrate if she let go.

"Moony."

"Mane." He greeted back, feeling more involved than he had only a couple of seconds ago. "I missed you."

Releasing him, Katherine tilted her head to the side in joy, her lips, once again, reading the same emotion.

"I missed you guys too. So much."

Sirius, adrenaline still pumping through his veins with excitement, lifted the light woman onto his shoulder in a fireman's lift effortlessly. Katherine yelped in surprise, and Remus attempted to control his laughter – a smile spreading across his face at the familiar image he recognised from their days at Hogwarts.

"PUT ME DOWN, SIRIUS!" Yelled Katherine, her voice surprisingly loud regardless of the fact that her face was pressed against Sirius' back.

"YOU WISH!" He replied with a taunt, and a grin in his tone.

"YES! I DO!"

Beginning to walk down the hallway with her still perched on his shoulder, Katherine began to grow more irate.

"Sirius, put me down, RIGHT NOW!"

"Nope!" He replied simply, tapping her bottom with his palm and making her gasp as her expression from frustration to disbelieving anger.

"PADFOOT WHEN I GET DOWN FROM HERE I SWEAR-"

"Well then, I'll never let you down!"

"MOONY, HELP!"

In response, Remus let a chuckle escape from his lips. Immediately afterwards, he realised his mistake and looked up with his eyes wide at infuriated face of Katherine, who had managed to raise her gaze to look at him by bending her neck.

"You, are, DEAD LUPIN!"

It was then that Sirius decided to drop Katherine to the floor.

"Well, if you're not threatening me anymore, that's okay!" Said Sirius, swiping the back of his hand across his head dramatically.

Usually, Katherine would have responded with a witty retort, but instead, she was busy realising that she had been moved into the sitting room of the Black residence. It looked extremely different than it had when she had visited the house as a teenager – the upper-class, pristine home that had once existed was now slightly ragged, and more homey than it had ever been. A large roaring fire cast an orange glow on the surroundings, but Katherine found it hard to focus on anything other than large number of eyes viewing her from where they were perched.

A gasp from Molly changed Katherine's viewpoint, and she smiled sheepishly, raising a hand in greeting.

"Hey Molly," She said, nodding at her, and then nodding towards Molly's husband who was staring at her wide-eyed. "Arthur."

"Katherine!" Exclaimed Molly, clapping her hands together. "It's great to see you!"

"You- you're alive?" Said Arthur, before being hit in the gut by his wife.

"Tactful, Arthur. Seriously?"

"Sorry, Molly."

A soft laugh escaped Katherine, and she shook her head. "Evidently not, Arthur! It's great to see you both!"

"Hey Moony," Katherine heard Sirius' voice behind her as she stood up from where she was dropped on the floor and brushed herself off. "I reckon we got away with it..."

Katherine's head whipped around, her eyes narrowing in their general direction, and both men widened their eyes.

"Jinxed it..."Whispered Remus, uncomfortably.

"Run." Katherine said threateningly, and the other two marauder's fled from the room.

Spinning back around, she found that a lot of the inquisitive eyes were now amused – although the expressions of the younger people were still curious. Bowing dramatically, Katherine smiled again.

"To those who don't know me, my name is Katherine Mercer. Proud Gryffindor, the fifth and only female marauder, master of pranks and epic in every way."

"Fred and-"

"-George Weasley. At your-"

"-service." Two tall, ginger boys spoke in turn, and Katherine's eyebrows raised in amusement.

"I'm Hermione Granger." A young girl with incredibly curly hair raised her head from behind a large, heavy book. The ginger boy next to her finally looked up at Katherine, and his jaw dropped – his cheeks and the tips of his ears turning a brilliant pink.

"R-Ron." He choked out, "Ron Weasley. And this is my sister Ginny." Said 'Ron' flailing his arms in the direction of a petite, pretty red-head.

"I can introduce myself, Ron." The red-haired girl said quietly, but in a tone that would indicate annoyance.

"Well, sorry." Said Ron, sarcastically.

"I'm Harry Potter." Said the boy on the other side of the chess board, and Katherine's head immediately snapped around to face him at the mention of his name. Her eyes widened again, in shock this time, her mouth dropping open.

"Oh my god..." She whispered, her eyes growing quickly teary.

A hand on Katherine's shoulder caused her to turn her head, meeting the smiling face of Sirius Black.

"Looks like him, doesn't he, love?"

"Unbelievably so." She confirmed, turning back to look at Harry again, "Takes you back, doesn't it?"

"Mmm." He hummed in approval, rubbing his thumb across her shoulder blade supportively, "You have to look after this one though; he doesn't have to look after you."

Katherine's expression turned incredulous, and she span around to look at Sirius face-to-face.

"James did _not_ have to look after me!"

"Yet he did regardless!" Sirius teased, "You would have been mauled by the Slytherins if he hadn't."

"...Shut up."

"Out witted the comeback queen!" Said Sirius, taking his turn to bow dramatically, "Sirius Black, ladies and gentlemen."

Katherine responded by hitting him across the head with an open palm.

"Ouch." He frowned, a slight pout forming on his lips.

Turning back to Harry, Katherine's bright smile returned to her face and she gestured to where she remembered the Black family drawing room being situated.

"Can we talk at the table? I'm sure you have a lot of questions..."

"Yes!" Sirius and Remus chirped up simultaneously, making them look at each other suspiciously.

Only a moment later, all of the current residents of the household, including Katherine, were seated around the hardwood dining room table; the same that Molly, Sirius and Remus had been sat at the previous day. Katherine herself sat at the head of the table, presumably so that she would be able to answer the questions that were asked more easily.

"Okay, I'll start." Said Remus, after a few moments of awkward silence. "Why did you leave?"

"Well," Replied Katherine, her fingers lacing together uncomfortably, "I lost everything. All at once. My father defected, my mother had already died, my best friend slash brother had just passed, my other best friend had been convicted of said murder, and my final best friend was doing mourning of his own, as well as struggling with his own '_family history_'. I was distraught – not to mention the fact that we'd all been so busy chasing Voldemort that I had absolutely no idea what to do with all of my spare time."

"Where did you go?" Remus asked, "You grew up around here, didn't you?"

"Yes. Which is why the muggle world was such a challenge! I went to a developing town in England, an hour and a half away from here? It was... interesting. I can't say I'll miss it much." She said frowning, to which Sirius responded with a grin.

"Did you think about us?" Sirius said next, a cocky grin lacing his features.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Replied Katherine, and Sirius appeared to be slightly taken aback by her honesty, "I kept receiving 'The Daily Prophet' and having to attempt to interpret the truth from it. Of course, it told me of your escape from Azkaban, and Remus' resignation from Hogwarts – but apart from that it was rather useless. I wished I could come back, but it wasn't the right time."

"Why is now the right time?" Arthur spoke up from near the end of the table, "Why now, after you let everyone think you were dead? You would have been entirely safe from you-know-who!"

"That's true; but I was needed here." She smiled softly, eyes darting between Remus, Sirius and Harry. "Remus will find his... condition... difficult to manage if there is ever a lack of Wolfsbane; Sirius is bound to do many stupid and reckless things that could get him thrown back into the soul sucking hell, and Harry..."

Harry looked up, his green eyes catching her grey-blue ones apprehensively, yet interestedly.

"...Well, if there was ever a time he needed his Godmother, it was now."

_Silence._

Sirius grinned and wrapped an arm around Katherine's shoulders. "I forgot about that! Ha! We're godparents, honey!"

"You're a terrible god-husband, _honey_." Katherine replied, shrugging him off smugly, leaving Sirius with a pout.

Remus simply had a knowing smile on his face, but all of the other faces in the room showed pure shock – especially young Mr. Potter's himself.

"Is it true?" Said Harry, his voice quiet and nervous, "Are you really?"

She nodded, and the young boy's lips stretched into their own smile.

"I know it must be weird for you, Harry – I mean, you've only just met me – but I promise that I have, and always will, be watching your back!"

"Me too!" Said Sirius, not wanting to be left out.

"He already knew you!"

"Well... Nn-ugh!"

"Oh, how I missed your intellectual speech." Said Katherine, "Prongs was right, we should buy you a dictionary for Christmas!"

"I still... uh... have the one Prongs gave me..."

Remus and Katherine couldn't stop themselves from snorting with laughter.

"Fat lot of good that did." Jibed Remus, poking Sirius in the side of his head. "How can we fix you?"

Sirius swatted his hand away.

"I'm not broken!"

"Are you sure?" Katherine asked, a cheeky glint in her eye; yet Sirius responded with the same heart stopping seriousness she herself had exhibited earlier.

"Since you've come back home, I've never felt more fixed, Mane."

"Agreed." Said Remus, stoically.


	3. A Broken Judiciary

_A/N - Happy Wednesday folks! Here's your chapter. Sorry for any errors, my computer messed up and deleted my edited version, so this is un-edited. You'll just have to make do! I'll probably replace it with a fixed version later:-)_

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-CHAPTER THREE-

_A Broken Judiciary_

It hadn't taken long in the previous evening to convince Katherine to stay at 12 Grimmauld place, as opposed to travelling and seeing her own family once again. The Mercer family was an old, prejudice group of people – much like Sirius' own family, in fact. The vast majority of people who were born into the Mercer family were sorted into Slytherin; immediately after her house announcement, Katherine found herself distanced from the group. Particularly from her father, in fact. She couldn't say that she really knew her mother – as Katherine's mother had died when she was very young, of causes she did not know, but she thought that it was highly unlikely that her mother would have cared. If anything, her mother would have been proud of Katherine being sorted into Gryffindor. It was the outcast feeling that both Sirius and Katherine shared that brought Katherine to be friends with the marauders, so she actually felt thankful towards her father for out-casting her. Without him, she wouldn't have been as happy as she had been whilst at school – that was ascertained.

Katherine adopted the room nearest to Mrs. Black's portrait, as it was unlikely any other person could have occupied it. Mrs. Black was actually quite fond of Katherine – seeing as she was pure of blood and from an old family, Mrs. Black often found herself voicing views of approval towards Katherine's being, repeatedly telling her that she would be very much a befitting wife for her son; exclaiming that he would regain some dignity. She was unaware of the fact that Katherine had been a part of the marauders, so did not even know about the fact that she was now, in the eyes of the old, a blood-traitor.

The screeching of Mrs. Black and Sirius woke Katherine from her sleep at only six o'clock the next morning. Rolling over so that her head was well and truly nestled in her pile of pillows, she frowned. Not even _that_ could drown out the insistent cries of both Black's.

"_But she'd be a befitting bride!"_

"MOTHER! You're dead! You don't have a say any more!"

"_You will do as I say, Sirius Orion Black!"_

"The full name thing doesn't work anymore! YOU'RE A PAINTING, WOMAN!"

"_Of course_,_ because of that I cannot do anything to make the Black family respected once again! By marrying Miss. Mercer, you can!"_

"But mother-"

"_Is she really so bad, Sirius?"_

"Yeah, Sirius." Katherine stood in the door way, fully dressed now, her face now devoid of tiredness and her eyes glinting with amusement – a sly grin edging across her lips, "Am I really so bad?"

Sirius swallowed, his eyes wide as he shook his head, "N-no, but-"

"_Then why not, imbecile? Honestly, what has happened to youth these days... Back when I was younger, men would have been more than happy to marry such a beautiful young woman – especially to restore some kind of pride to their family name, and especially if their mother approved of such a choice! Really Sirius, you're such a disappointment! At least Regulus did something we can be proud of; not letting such blood-traitors, half-breeds and children of filth into our family hom-"_

At this point, Sirius' fists were clenched by his side, his teeth gritted and his eyes flashing with anger. In order to save Mrs. Black, and the ears of the Order from her imminent screeching, Katherine grabbed Sirius' arm and pulled him from the room, slamming the door behind her.

Only a moment later, Katherine was bent over, and laughing so hard that tears threatened to escape from her eyes.

"Crikey, Sirius. I would have just told her we were engaged!"

"But we're not!"

"You didn't have to be honest!" She said, regaining her bearings slightly and beginning the decent down the Black's stair case of house elf heads, "Would have saved you a lot of aggravation, and given me a lot of sleeping time."

"The fact that it woke you up was a good thing!" Said Sirius, following closely behind her, "-And I am not going to lie to my mother! You know Katherine, you're the most Slytherin Gryffindor I've ever met!"

"I do know!" Katherine turned her head, her sly grin still on her face, "I know very well!"

"It's scary." Mumbled Sirius, darting his eyes away from her.

When they reached the kitchen, they were both surprised to see that Harry had already awoken from his slumber, but then quickly remembered that today was the day of his trial. The day of his, in Katherine's opinion, _completely_ unjust accusation that Harry had used magic unnecessarily in front of a muggle, his cousin, Dudley.

_It's not like it was his choice to be attacked by a Dementor_, Katherine thought, grabbing and chewing on a piece of toast as she watched Mrs. Weasley fuss over Harry, and Tonks tiredly offering support, _If they want someone to blame for the underage use of magic, how about the person who let the Dementors out of Azkaban? That seems like a decent enough target. Not a fifteen year old boy!_

Mr. Weasley, Harry's escort for the day, entered the room dressed smartly – in a pair of pin-striped trousers and an odd kind of jacket – one that was not particularly common. He spoke softly to Harry, but Harry stayed quiet and simply shrugged in reply to whatever he was saying. Katherine couldn't blame him – if she was in his shoes, she could safely say that she would be rather frightened too.

"The hearing's on my floor, in Amelia Bones' office." He spoke slightly louder, so that Sirius and Katherine were both able to hear what he was saying without having to strain their ears. "She's Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the one who'll be questioning you."

"Amelia Bones is okay, Harry." Tonks, another member of the Order, said immediately, supposedly attempting to calm Harry, not that he looked particularly riled, after Arthur's formal speech. "She's fair, she'll hear you out."

"Don't lose your temper." Spoke Sirius abruptly, having just drank an entire cup of tea in only a few gulps. "Be polite and stick to the facts."

"He's going to be polite, Sirius." Katherine tutted, flicking the man in the forehead, "He always is. Right Harry?"

Harry simply nodded.

"The law's on your side." Remus said softly, patting the boy on the shoulder. "Even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in life-threatening situations."

Katherine attempted not to laugh at Harry's confused expression as Molly attempted to attack his hair with a wet comb – and Molly's own exasperated expression as the black strands simply kept popping back up as soon as she had flattened them.

"Doesn't it ever lie flat?" She asked exasperatedly.

Harry simply shook his head, making even more of his hair stick up once again. Molly sighed heavily, and Arthur quickly looked down at his watch.

"I think we'll go now." He said, attempting to save the poor boy from the attacking comb of his wife. "We're a bit early, but I think you'll be better off at the Ministry than hanging around here."

Molly gave him a dangerous look, and Arthur swallowed.

"Okay." Said Harry, dropping a piece of toast similar to Katherine's dry slice and getting to his feet.

"You'll be alright, Harry." Said Tonks, patting him on the arm.

"Good luck." Remus said, immediately afterwards, "Not that you need it. I'm sure it will be fine."

"And if it's not..." Said Sirius, menacingly, "I'll see to Amelia Bones for you."

"You know he's not kidding right?" Katherine spoke up grimly, and Sirius smirked whilst Harry smiled weakly, "But if it comes to it... I'll be more than happy to help with Bones."

Molly wrapped Harry into a tight embrace, smothering him in her warmth.

"We've all got our fingers crossed." She said, Katherine, Sirius and Remus all holding up their crossed fingers simultaneously.

"Merlin," Sirius' eyes widened, looking at the other two marauders consecutively, "Now _that's_ cool."

"Right," Said Harry, not quite sure how to respond, "Well... See you later then."

Harry followed Arthur upstairs, and a moment later there was the sound of the door opening and closing swiftly. All of the members of the room exhaled a sigh, and Molly immediately started hyperventilating.

"Oh god. Oh _god_! What if he gets expelled? What if his wand is snapped? _Oh dear Merlin, what if he's sent to Azkaban?"_

"He won't be." Remus said firmly, "He hasn't done anything wrong. And even if he got the full sentence for his actions, he wouldn't be sent to Azkaban."

Molly exhaled through gritted teeth.

"You're right." Said Katherine, "And even if he's found guilty, we can demand a re-tria-"

"Ka-Katherine?" Tonks spoke up, her eyes widening and her hair changing from a blue – purple to a bright pink colour, "Is that you?"

"Ah, yes." She said, smiling and raising a hand in welcome. "Hey, Tonks."

"It's great to see you! Come for the re-banding of the Order?"

"Of course." Katherine said, noticing how Remus and Sirius let out sighs of relief at her declaration of staying. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Do you reckon that the ministry is going to be fair, this time?" Said Sirius suddenly, voicing what had obviously been on his mind for a while, "They certainly weren't in my case."

"You didn't have a confirmed alibi." Tonks said swiftly, "Harry does. A squib who lives in his street – been looking after him a while. Entertaining him with pictures of cats."

"Cats?" Asked Katherine.

"Cats." Confirmed Tonks.

"Doesn't sound all that entertaining to me." Said Sirius, grimacing, "I hate cats."

"You would!" Katherine said with a scowl, "Not all felines are bad, you know. Stupid mutt."

Sirius growled in reply. "I didn't say that they were! But I'm tempted now..."

Looking from Sirius' face to Katherine's, Remus spoke up, cutting off whatever retort Katherine was about to unleash.

"Yeah, Sirius? I wouldn't."

Tonks grinned at the playful banter and clapped her hands together, her hair remaining a cheerful pink.

"Ah, I missed this! Just like the old days..."

* * *

"I knew it!" Yelled Ron, who had finally awoken and been seen downstairs at just gone eleven in the morning; having the audacity to assume that Harry had not yet gone. He punched the air and continued, "You always get away with stuff!"

Katherine smirked.

"They were bound to clear you." Hermione said logically, as though she had known it all along. She was, however, paler than usual, and her face had just recovered from the anxious appearance that it had once sported; her hands still shaking slightly. "There was no case against you, none at all."

"Everyone seems quite relieved though, considering you all knew I'd get off." Said Harry, a more genuine smile than the shaky one he had sported in the morning across his lips.

"Of course we are, Harry." Katherine said, return his smile with her own, "The ministry aren't always known for being just!"

Fred, George and Ginny, who had also awoken quite late – Katherine assumed that it must be a 'Weasley' thing – were starting a kind of repetitive chant in order to send their joy towards the young, scruffy haired boy's freedom.

"_He got off, he got off, he got off..."_

"That's enough!" Said Arthur, feeling the effects of waking up so early in the morning. His tone was contradicted by the smile that threatened to take over his face, "Listen, Sirius, Katherine- Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry-"

"What?" Said Sirius, sharply.

"He's not in Azkaban?" Whispered Katherine, her eyes aglow with anger.

"_He got off, he got off, he got off..."_

"Be quiet you three! Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on Level Nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. Dumbledore ought to know."

"Absolutely." Said Sirius, "We'll tell him, don't worry."

"Stupid Fudge." Katherine's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she turned so that she was glaring out of the window, "Such a sweet name, such a bitter, bitter man."

"Yes," Said Arthur, looking at Katherine with amusement, "Well, I'd better get going. There's a vomiting toilet waiting for me in Bethnal Green. Molly, I'll be late, I'm covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner-"

"_He got off, he got off, he got off..."_

"That's enough!" Shouted Molly, shooting a glare that could scare the toughest of people towards her three children, and Arthur hurriedly left the kitchen. "Fred – George – Ginny!"

Turning to Harry, Molly's glare faded, her face softening. "Harry, dear, come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast."

Katherine quickly noticed, as Ron, Harry and Hermione sat down to eat, that the three of them were looking happier than she had seen them before. It was obvious that some of the tension that had been raised before was relieved, and the house felt immediately more homey and less stiff that it had been only a few hours ago. The levels of awkward, tense silence had rapidly decreased – all of the people in the room erupting into their own light-hearted conversations; even Kreacher, the perpetuity miserable house-elf, peered into the room with narrowed eyes to examine the source of the noise, probably at the painted Mrs. Black's request.

"Course, when Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you," Said Ron happily. Katherine's musing over the tall, whimsical man whom she had not seen for many years was cut off by a great mound of mashed potato being placed upon the plate in front of her, to which she wrinkled up her nose in disgust.

Sirius barked a laugh from next to her, leaning close to her ear.

"Never were a big fan of potatoes, were ya'?"

"No." She said sharply, placing her palm over Sirius' face and pushing it away gently, and he responded with another chuckle.

"Yeah, he swung it for me," Said Harry, finally responding to Ron, yet sounding surprisingly put-out. He continued, his tone becoming increasingly childish, "I wish he'd talked to me, though. Or even _looked_ at me."

Katherine noted, with some interest – yet mostly concern, that as he said this, his hand flew to his forehead, underneath his fringe where she knew his scar lingered.

"What's up?" Hermione asked with alarm in her tone.

"Scar," Harry mumbled, so quietly that Katherine found herself lip-reading instead of listening, "But it's nothing... it happens all the time now..."

Turning her head immediately to Sirius, Katherine realised that the others were all engaged in their own conversations, not having noticed Harry's issue with his scar at all; Sirius included. Her eyebrows pressed together, but she decided that now was not the time to discuss it – she resolved that she would discuss the matter with Sirius and Remus, if he was around, after they had finished eating.

"I bet that Dumbledore turns up this evening to celebrate with us, you know." Said Ron, ignorantly.

"I don't think he'll be able to, Ron." Replied Molly, setting a large plate of food in front of Harry, and Katherine watched his eyes widen with the amount, "He's really very busy at the moment."

Katherine then began to wonder just how much of the Order's business she had left to be told; but her thoughts were again, cut off.

"_HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF..."_

"SHUT UP!" Roared Molly, unable to handle the chanting any further.

* * *

Later that evening, Katherine had discussed Harry's scar with Remus and Sirius, causing them both to become largely concerned. Remus had spoken logically, saying that it was probably because Voldemort's uprising – which of course, the Order were already aware of, but Sirius had become irate. He immediately wanted to go to Harry, wake him, and demand more information regarding his scar then and there, but both Katherine and Remus had stopped him. They made Sirius see that it would cause more harm than good; they knew what was causing it, after all, and knew that their questioning would make Harry more concerned. The best thing, they decided, to do was to wait.

Over the consecutive weeks, it was noticeable to all that Sirius was becoming more and more temperamental, particularly after Harry had received the news that he would indeed be able to go to Hogwarts in the new school term. He had, at first, been seemingly pleasant about the news, but it was quickly recognised as a facade when his mood deteriorated. He quickly became more dour, and anti-social than he had been previously, speaking less to others – even Harry, Remus and Katherine, and when he would speak to Katherine, it would often end in an argument. Instead, he was spending more and more time with Buckbeak – a hippogriff Hagrid had raised and allowed Sirius to have, in return for saving the poor creature from an appointment with a Ministry of Magic authorised execution.

"Sirius." Said Katherine, walking over and standing next to where he was knelt, his long pale fingers wrapped up in the hippogriff's feathers. "Why so glum, chum?"

"I'm not 'glum'." Sirius grumbled in reply, refusing to lift his head, and leaving his features hidden by a curtain of black hair.

"That's a lie." She said assuredly, sitting cross legged on the cold, pale, stone floor. "You've been acting funny for the past few weeks."

"Can you blame me?" He snapped, turning and facing her, her grey eyes glaring into her blue, his face flushing with anger. "I'm more worried about Harry - my... scrap that, _our,_ Godson, more than I have ever been! His scar's acting up, and pretending it doesn't; Voldemort, who wants the kid _dead_ is back on the rise, and bloody traitor Wormtail is still _alive_!"

Katherine was silent for a moment, mulling over his words. All of his fears were understandable, she felt them too. It was obvious, however, that Sirius had far more to lose. The man had so little, that he was scared of losing the supposedly 'small' things he had, because they were, and would for a long time be, the only things he had.

"I can always go with him to Hogwarts, Sirius." She said, after considering it. Katherine was concerned for Harry's safety, as was Sirius – so the proposition seemed realistic.

His eyes widened. "You can do what now?"

Katherine's lips stretched into an assuring grin. "I can always speak to Dumbledore and ask for a position at Hogwarts. If he knew of our concerns – and yes, I do share yours – I'm sure he would have no right to object. I am quite qualified for the position, you know."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"You never did ask what I did when I was in the muggle world, did you?" Katherine shook her head, "But that can be discussed at another time. My going to Hogwarts, however, should really be discussed now."

"But- if you go..."

"If I go...?"

"You won't be here..." Said Sirius awkwardly, scratching at the back of his head. "I'd be, uh, alone. Again."

"No, you wouldn't." Said Katherine, raising a palm to Sirius' rough cheek, supportively, and having to stop herself from awing at Sirius' uncomfortable, caring words. "You'd have Moony, and I'd Floo here, or Floo-call, when I could."

"I guess I really shouldn't be selfish." Sirius concluded after a moment, a frown on his face, "Your going to Hogwarts would keep harry the safest."

"Yes, it would." She agreed, before removing her hand from his face and wrapping him into a hug instead. "Everything's going to be fine Sirius."

"Are you sure, Mane?" He asked, sceptically, but placed his hands on her lower back regardless, returning the hug. "It really doesn't seem that way right now."

"I'm sure." Murmured Katherine, "Everything's going to be just fine."


	4. Dumbledore

**A/N - Hello lovelies, long time no see! I've been waiting for the sun to shine in England - no such luck - but, the sun can shine on your monitor with my brilliance! **

**/Shot**

**Just kidding! ...Ha...Ha... Some light-hearted humour to distract you from the fact that I haven't (in any way) kept up to date with my uploading targets? Heheh. Anyway, to make up for it, I'll post today, tomorrow and Sunday, so don't fall out of love with me just yet, okay?**

**Don't give up on me! I LOVE YOUUUU!:-)**

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**_And on with the show!_  
**

* * *

-CHAPTER FOUR-

_Dumbledore_

The day following the decision Katherine had made with Sirius; Harry, the Weasleys, and Hermione decided that it would be the opportune day to visit Diagon Alley on the mission retrieve their supplies for the next year of their education. Ron, Harry and Hermione were, after all, going into their fifth year – the year when all their studies and education became much harder, and much more important. For such a change in content, it was only expected that a change in materials would be required.

Katherine, however, decided that it would be an opportunity to visit someone she had not seen in a very long time – Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and a long list of other titles Katherine could never remember. She needed to ascertain that she would be able to attend Hogwarts – as a teacher, of course – alongside Harry before she told him, as she didn't want to risk raising and dashing his hopes. It was with that philosophy that she waited until he had disappeared from 12 Grimmauld place before leaving herself.

"I shouldn't be long." She told Sirius and Remus, who had been told of the prior decision, and were seeing her off. "There's not a lot to discuss."

"Alright." Said Sirius, still decidedly glum, "Tell him about Lucius, will you?"

Katherine nodded.

"If he offers you Defence Against the Dark Arts, don't take it." Remus said, jokingly, "It's a cursed position."

This time, Katherine shook her head and grinned.

"I'll bear it in mind." She said, stepping into the large, rustic fireplace of the Noble House of Black having thrown a handful of Floo-powder at the fireplace. "Hogwarts!"

* * *

Katherine arrived in a roaring, crackling green fire, immediately stepping out of the fireplace before the fire returned to normal and burnt the bottom of the set of robes she had donned for the occasion. She daintily bushed the ash from her clothing, a habit she'd never been able to shake from where her father had drilled it into her, and raised her head to view the room.

Dumbledore's large office was much the same as it had ever been, walls, tables and shelves lined with interesting looking trinkets, muggle and magical sweets. A large wooden desk was near the back of the room, the man himself relaxing comfortably in it. The man himself, Albus Dumbledore, was wearing mysterious looking deep purple robes with silver crescent moons decorating them, had long white hair and a long white beard, as well as a pair of spectacles perched on the end of his nose; all making him appear as wise as he was. He had a slight smile on his wrinkled face, his blue eyes twinkling in the light.

The person opposite him, however, had a face that read nothing but shock. Her, supposedly, long brown hair was tied into a neat, tight bun at the back of her head, and she too, had a pair of spectacles balanced on her nose. She wore simple, yet elegant, black robes, and lines across her face that could have told stories by themselves.

"Well," Said Dumbledore, his enigmatic voice travelling across the room, "This _is_ a surprise."

"Albus." The woman, Minerva McGonagall, spoke across from him in an elegant Scottish accent. "It isn't-"

"Yet it is." He replied to her unfinished question with a flourish, "Miss. Katherine Mercer. Back from the dead?"

"Of course Professors!" She said, grinning and walking towards them, "You know me... Nine lives and all?"

"Hm." Professor McGonagall frowned and turned her head away in disapproval, "I still should have reported you all for that. What were you thinking? Unregistered Animagus'?"

"Eh," Katherine raised a hand and brushed it in a shooing motion. "It's all in the past. The point is, I'm not dead!"

"And we're very glad to hear it." Dumbledore cut in, before McGonagall could rant again, "But if you have decided to come out of hiding to see us, I assume you must be here upon a matter of importance?"

"Indeed." Said Katherine, her expression changing to one that was surprisingly stoic on the marauder. "I've rejoined the Order, and have been staying at the headquarters for a few weeks now."

"Really?" McGonagall asked, her eyes wide, "But I thought-"

"What happened to James," Katherine cut off for a moment, and swallowed hard, "-was terrible. There is no doubt about it. But instead of hiding from what could, and will be – the death and injury of countless others who I am particularly fond of - it is best to prevent it; don't you think?"

"Yes." McGonagall said, a small smile on her face, "Well said, Miss Mercer."

"I for one think it's splendid that you have joined the Order again." Said Dumbledore, his eyes alight now. "You're a very talented witch."

"Thank you." Katherine returned the smile, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

"Sirius and I have decided that the best way of protecting our Godson is by making sure that one of us is close by." Katherine begun, wringing her hands together as a surprising bout of nervousness overcame her, "Therefore I believe it would be most helpful if I could contribute some way within Hogwarts, during the school term."

"You're Harry's Godmother?" Professor McGonagall exclaimed.

"You mean, as a teacher?" Asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, and yes. Either a teacher, or some kind of teaching assistant."

"I can definitely see the merits of such an idea." Said Dumbledore thoughtfully, resting his head in the palm of his hand, "The only problem, is the space. We did, of course, have an open position as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, but that has now been filled."

"By whom, if I may?" Katherine asked, with clear interest.

"A Delores Umbridge – Ministry of Magic official. The Ministry expressed its interest in keeping an eye on the school, and that was how they decided it would be best to do so." Said Dumbledore, but he made it sound like he was disheartened over the decision.

"You make it sound like a bad thing." Stated Katherine, "Is it?"

Dumbledore was silent for a moment, and then, albeit reluctantly, voiced his thoughts.

"I fear that Professor Umbridge will turn 'Defence Against the Dark Arts' into a far more theoretical than practical lesson." He said, stroking his beard as though in comfort to himself, "This obviously would not be helpful to students in the slightest, particularly with the return of you-know-who."

"Right." Muttered Katherine, pressing her eyebrows together in disapproval.

"I have a suggestion." McGonagall spoke excitedly, "What if Miss Mercer worked within Hogwarts to teach some 'extra-curricular' Defence Against the Dark Arts? Of course, it would not be compulsory, but would definitely give students an opportunity to learn if they so desired."

"A brilliant idea." Dumbledore said, smiling reverently. "One that cannot possibly cause any objections by the Ministry, don't you agree, Miss Mercer?"

"I do." Said Katherine, with a smile.

"Then it's settled." Dumbledore stood from his desk, offering his pale, fragile hand out for Katherine to shake, "If you could, return on September 1st along with the other staff and Hogwarts students on the Hogwarts Express. We can introduce you as the new _practical_ Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher; after the feast I can show you where you can reside. Is that agreeable?"

"Most." Katherine replied, happily.

"Wonderful." Dumbledore said, his whimsical smile still on his face, and Katherine noticed that now, Professor McGonagall was also sporting a wide smile of her own.

Katherine turned to leave, but was stopped as Dumbledore called after her.

"Professor Mercer!" He called, and she spun around, a warm feeling in her stomach at the new title, "Sybill asked me to give you this."

"Sybill?"

"Ah, yes. Professor Trelawney, I suppose you know her as." He said, walking over and grasping her hand, placing his closed fist over it. "Take care of this, and don't lose it. Don't let the Ministry know you have it, either."

He opened his fist and dropped a golden necklace into Katherine's palm – a small hourglass, surrounded by two larger golden circles and all held together by a couple of pins, was attached to it, and now lay in Katherine's hand.

A-A _time turner_?

"She said you'd need it; it was one of those... _times_, which reminds us why she's still here." Said Dumbledore, and from the look on his face, Katherine guessed that was all he was willing to tell her.

_One of those 'times'_? Katherine mused as she stepped into the fireplace, throwing down some powder and whispering the address of the Order's Headquarters. _A prophecy_?

As soon as Katherine returned from her meeting with Dumbledore, she fastened the Time Turner around her neck, and tucked it under her shirt. She didn't, after all, particularly wish to discuss it with anyone other than Sirius and Remus, and such a rare object would draw attention from any parties within the house. She quickly made her way to the table – noting, on the way, large, garish red and gold decorations congratulating Hermione and Ron on having being made prefects. Katherine thought that it was safe to assume that Molly had been responsible for them, and grinned at the thought.

"Good meeting?" Asked Sirius, as Katherine took a seat between him and Remus.

"Yes." She smiled, "We figured something out. The hired a Ministry woman for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position – although they don't sound particularly trilled about it, and want me to teach extra-curricular practical Defence, to make sure that students can learn how to _really_ defend if it comes to it."

"So this... Ministry woman... is likely to be teaching theory only?" Surmised Sirius.

"Yep."

"Theoretic Defence Against the Dark Arts..." Said Sirius, grumpily, "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

"-Which is why I'm rectifying it!" Katherine reminded him, nudging him lightly with her elbow, "It's all good."

"Bittersweet if you ask me."

"Wait-" Remus cut in, having finished his conversation with Tonks, who looked a little affronted at his sudden change in attentions, "You took Defence? The _cursed_ Defence? The only position I told you _not_ to take?"

"Yes, but even if I die while doing it, I have nine-lives, remember?" Katherine grinned, taking a sip of water.

"You know Snivellus works at Hogwarts, right?" Said Sirius suddenly, only just having remembered.

Katherine choked on the liquid she drank.

"Snivellus does what now?"

"Holds a huge grudge, too." Mumbled Remus, with a frown, "Even against me – and I didn't do anything!"

"He's part of the Order now, according to Dumbledore." Said Sirius thoughtfully, "Tight-lipped about a lot of the information though. When we ask questions, he seldom answers."

"I guess we just have to have faith in Dumbledore."

Katherine hummed in agreement and nodded slightly, drinking some more of the cool water to sooth her now aching throat.

Only a moment later, a herd of young people trampled down the stairs; Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, George and Fred, one after the other, with Molly leading them. She looked surprisingly happy, a pleasing change from the usual 'stern' or 'concerned' expression that she sported.

"I thought we'd have a little party, not a sit-down dinner,' she told the room, and Sirius snorted at Molly's idea of a party. Katherine grinned as Molly turned to Ron. "Your father and Bill are on their way. I've sent them both owls and they're _thrilled_!" She added, beaming.

Fred rolled his eyes.

"Harry looks a bit put out, don't he?" Sirius whispered into Katherine's ear, and she almost scolded him for poor grammar, instead choosing to look across at her Godson. He did, indeed sport a long face, regardless of the fact the he looked as though he were trying to be falsely happy.

"Yeah." She responded, finally, "I imagine he would have liked to have been a prefect."

Shortly after their conversation, Mad-Eye Moody, another old Order of the Phoenix member, stumped into the room, and Molly swivelled around, a large smile still on her plump face.

"Oh, Alastor, I am glad you're here! We've been wanting to ask you for ages – could you have a look in the writing desk in the drawing room and tell us what's inside it? We haven't wanted to open it just in case it's something really nasty."

"No problem, Molly..."

Katherine's eyebrows shot up with his agreeable attitude, and he watched as his impressive electric blue eye stared straight through the ceiling at the desk in the drawing room.

"Drawing room..." He growled, the pupil of his eye contracting, "Desk in the corner? Yeah, I see it ...Yeah, it's a Boggart ...Want me to get rid of it, Molly?"

"No, no, I'll do it myself later," Molly smiled at him gratefully, "You have your drink. We're having a little bit of a celebration..."

Katherine's attentions drifted as she stared up at the ceiling Alastor had been looking at only moments earlier. It stunned her how effective his eye was – _how does it work?_

"Where can I get one of those eyes?" Asked Sirius. Remus and Katherine both grinned. "Be much easier to know when someone was in the toilet."

"You know, all you have to do is knock." Remus said, eyes narrowing as he recognised where Sirius was going with his teasing, "It's common sense!"

"It's also common sense to lock the door." Sirius rolled his eyes, before rubbing them dramatically with his finger tips, "The image is burned into my memory forever!"

"I don't think I want to know." Said Katherine, shaking her head. She raised an eyebrow as she realised Harry had inched closer towards her, Sirius and Remus; supposedly unsettled my Alastor's odd eye.

"Well, I think a toast is in order," Arthur announced, who had arrived recently with Ron's brother Bill, and Mundungus Fletcher, a man Katherine wasn't particularly fond of. This time, much like others, he was donning a large coat with various, suspicious lumps and refused to remove it. Katherine found herself sneering at it, unintentionally.

"To Ron and Hermione," Continued Arthur, undeterred, "The new Gyffindor prefects!"

Ron and Hermione beamed as everyone drank to them, and then clapped whole-heartedly.

"I was never a prefect myself," Said Tonks, whose hair appeared to be a couple shades lighter, but a bright red, much like Katherine's. "My Head of House said I lacked certain necessary qualities."

"Like what?" Asked Ginny, somewhat distracted by the food in front of her.

"Like the ability to behave myself."

Ginny laughed, but Hermione looked confused as to whether or not to smile – so instead drank, and choked on, a large gulp of Butterbeer.

"What about you, Sirius?" Ginny asked, while thumping Hermione on the back.

Sirius, who much like Katherine and Remus, had been listening to their conversation, let out a bark like laugh. Remus and Katherine smiled at it, but Tonks, Ginny and Hermione looked confused by the unusual sound.

"No-one would have made me a prefect, I spend too much time in detention with James and Katherine. Lupin was the good boy, he got the badge."

"You were misbehaved?" Hermione looked over to Katherine, shocked.

"Oh yeah."

"Unrivalled back-chatter." Sirius said, wrapping an arm around Katherine's shoulders, "_Still_ an unrivalled back-chatter.'

"I think Dumbledore might have hoped I would be able to exercise some control over my best friends," Said Remus, shaking his head, "I scarcely need to say that I failed dismally."

Out of the corner of her eye, Katherine noticed that her Godson brightened at the mention of his father – perhaps noticing that being a prefect wasn't everything after all. She smiled softly, and looked over at Sirius, who was looking quite proud of himself.

"I did good." He said, smugly.

"You did good." Katherine agreed, nodding.

The rest of dinner went off without a hitch. Katherine watched Harry's expression flicker between disappointment and happiness, as though he were decidedly confused over which he should be. When dinner was over, Molly left for bed, and to sort out the Boggart in the drawing room desk. Katherine watched her leave and then turned back around to the sight of Alastor beckoning Harry closer to him.

"I've got something that might interest you." He said, taking a final swig of the hipflask in his hand before delving into his pocket and pulling out a tattered old moving photograph; a Wizarding photograph. "Original Order of the Phoenix. Found it last night when I was looking for my spare Invisibility Cloak, seeing as Podmore hasn't had the manners to return my best one... thought people might like to see it."

From over Harry's shoulder, Katherine saw that it was indeed, a photograph of the old Order. A collection of people stood smiling, waving, or raising goblets and glasses.

"There's me," Alastor said, pointing roughly at himself in the photograph; looking much the same only slightly less grey, and slightly more rounded, as well as the fact that his nose was still intact. "And there's Dumbledore beside me, Dedalus Diggle on the other side... That's Marlene McKinnon, she was killed two weeks after this was taken, they got her whole family."

Alastor did not freeze in his introductions to the characters in the photograph, but Katherine physically stiffened at the casual mention of her previous team-mate and friend. Her eyes became quickly tearful, and she bit her lip in fear of becoming too emotional. Sirius laced his fingers with hers from where he stood behind her, in support.

"-That's Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, only time I ever met him, strange bloke... that's Dorcas Meadowes, Voldemort killed her personally."

Sirius squeezed Katherine's hand softly in comfort, and she tilted her head over her shoulder in silent thanks.

"Sirius, when he still had short hair-"

"Hey! Is that an insult? I think that's an insult!" Complained Sirius indignantly.

Alastor ignored him.

"-that's Katherine, next to Sirius – looking... well, much the same really, maybe a bit more 'proper'... and... there you go, thought that would interest you!"

From the expression on Alastor's face, it was clear that he thought he was doing everyone a favour by showing them the picture – Harry especially, but as James and Lily Potter came into view, along with Wormtail – _the bastard_ – Sirius and Katherine began to have a death grip on each other's hands and Harry looked increasingly devastated.

"Yeah," Said Harry, attempting a grin. "Er... listen, I've just remembered I haven't packed my..."

He paused, unable to think of an excuse to leave, so Sirius decided to be gracious and help him.

"Books? I think I remember them lying around." He said.

"Yeah, that's right." Said Harry, before turning and darting away.

"Poor Harry." Said Katherine, and Alastor turned and looked at her with a glare.

"I was doing something nice!" He said, indignantly.

"Nice?" Katherine shouted, "How is that nice? You're reminding all of us about what we don't want to remember!"

"Well they can't be forgotten!"

"I'm not saying we should forget them, I'm saying that you shouldn't dig up a buried evil!"

Sirius, who still had hold on Katherine's hand, pulled her away from Alastor and up the stairs from where they stood in the basement. The banner no longer seemed happy now – instead, old and tired. The climb up the stairs seemed that much longer, this time, and Sirius' hand seemed that much more comforting.

He led Katherine up the other flight of stairs, past all of the house elf heads and held her tightly to him, crushing her against his chest as soon as they reached Katherine's room. She let out a shuddered breath, and wrapped her own arms around him in return, taking the comfort that he all so willingly offered.

"I-I missed this..."

"Missed mourning?" Sirius asked, his voice surprisingly hoarse.

"Missed h-having someone to comfort m-me..." Katherine choked out, holding him tighter, "It h-hurt to leave..."

"I missed it too." Said Sirius, rubbing a hand up and down on Katherine's back, "Worst part about Azkaban. You have no-one."

"At least we have each-other now." Katherine smiled against him. "And Moony." She said, as though an afterthought.

Sirius hummed in agreement, although, for some strange reason, he couldn't stop himself from wishing that Mane hadn't mentioned Moony at all.


	5. Hogwarts

_**A/N - I remembered! :-) It's a bit long, this one, but ah well - I'm sure you won't mind! **_

_**R & R!**_

_**(Oh, and in response to an un-usernamed 'Ali' - yes, I did know that I have yet to reveal Katherine's Animagus! I've written the reveal... but I suppose you'll just have to wait, won't you? ;-))**_

-CHAPTER FIVE-

_Hogwarts_

"I can't believe Dumbledore told me I couldn't go!" Sirius pouted from the bottom of the stairs as Katherine dragged her suitcase down them. "And... God, you're an idiot. Are you a witch or not?"

Katherine froze dropping her suitcase on the step next to her, raising a palm to her forehead and smacking it lightly. "Okay, that was pretty idiotic."

Taking out her wand and flicking it, her suitcase levitated swiftly to the bottom of the staircase and stopped next to the front door.

"Ah, I have such faith in the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Said Sirius, with sarcasm. Katherine smiled in reply, walking the rest of the way down the stairs, her new smart robes hung in the crook of her arm.

"Well," She said, grinning as a retort came to mind, "At least I get to go!"

"I can't believe I'm not allowed!"

"Not allowed?" Said Remus, walking into the hallway, attempting to stifle a yawn, "Since when had being 'not allowed' stopped you, Padfoot?"

Sirius ginned, and then his eyes widened in an idea, and he bounded off towards the drawing room.

"What have you done, Moony?" Said Katherine, stowing her wand away, "You do know that whatever he comes up with is going to be totally ridiculous, right?"

"Oh yeah." Remus grinned, his arms folded tightly across his chest, "I know."

"So while I'm at Hogwarts, do you want me to bring back Wolfsbane on weekends? I know you could probably use it. It's probably better than trying to handle things the same way as in the old days..."

Remus grinned. "Well, yes, it would certainly be appreciated. But you do know that to get the stuff, you'll have to talk to the potions master."

"I assumed so... Where are you going with this?"

"What subject was Snape best at? What subject do you think Snape teaches?"

She was silent for a moment, before a scowl decorated Katherine's porcelain face.

"I'm going to have to talk to Snivellus on a weekly basis, aren't I?"

Remus nodded, snorting, "And for once, I'm actually disappointed that I can't see that confrontation!"

"Thanks for the support." Said Katherine, sarcastically. "Jerk."

"It's what I do. But seriously, Mane, if you could refrain from the old nicknames, I'm sure he would be silently grateful."

"Well, if he lays off sneering, I'd be more than happy to oblige." Katherine said, frowning.

Molly's hurried footsteps behind them snapped both marauders out of their reverie and diverted their attentions.

"Sirius' bloody mother is going to drive me insane!" Mumbled Molly, hurriedly taking a scarf from a banister and wrapping it around her neck, "Fred and George could have seriously harmed Ginny, and by god, cover your ears; WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE NOW PLEASE!"

Katherine winced at Molly's bellowing and wished she'd heeded her warned and covered her ears.

Hermione came tumbling down the stairs first, her mass of curly brown hair unruly behind her; Harry quickly followed, dragging his trunk and a bewildered looking Hedwig alongside him. Sirius' mother's shouts accompanied their hurried steps, as no-one had the time to close the curtains of her portrait – not that the curtains would have helped much; Mrs. Black was being particularly loud, that morning.

"_MUDBLOODS!" _Mrs. Black called after them, disgust and vulgarity clear in her voice, _"SCUM! CREATURES OF DIRT!"_

"Harry, you're to come with me and Tonks," Shouted Molly, trying her hardest to ignore the riling words of Mrs. Black. "Leave your trunk and your owl, Alastor's going to deal with the luggage ...Oh and for heaven's sake, Sirius, Dumbledore said _no_!"

Remus and Katherine snapped their heads around just in time to see an enormous, familiar black dog appear at their sides, clambering unhelpfully over the trunks and bags, tail wagging happily. Catching Katherine's eye, Remus gave her an '_I told you so_' look, but Katherine simply shook her head and grinned, before following Molly out of the door with a wave of farewell.

She thought that Sirius was actually being quite clever.

"Oh honestly..." Said Molly, exasperatedly, eying Sirius who had been able to slip out of the house alongside them before the door slammed shut, "Well, on your own head be it!"

"Where's Tonks?" Asked Harry, looking around desolate street for her, unaware of the fact that 12 Grimmauld place was disappearing behind them.

"She's waiting for us just up here." Said Molly, rolling her eyes disapprovingly at Sirius who was trotting happily between Katherine and Harry.

It wasn't long before they spotted Tonks, her appearance slightly more disguised than usual. She had curled grey hair, and an odd shaped, purple hat perched upon it.

"Wotcher, Harry." She said, turning to the boy and winking, "Better hurry up, hadn't we, Molly?"

"I know, I know," Said Molly, exhaustion evident in her voice, each step she took beginning to reach further; Harry and Katherine had to hurry to keep up with her. Molly began to ramble, her excuses for being late sounding slightly useless to Katherine's ears – yet she couldn't say that she was truly paying attention anyway. She was instead, watching a dog formed Sirius chasing after his own tail and snapping after pigeons – causing them to fly away in a flurry of white and grey.

She grinned and chuckled at Sirius making the most of his short-lived freedom, while Harry couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh. Molly, however, looked less than impressed.

The twenty minute walk to Kings Cross Station was reasonably uneventful – Molly continued a civilised conversation with Tonks whilst Sirius darted all over the place; scaring the occasional muggle with his ridiculously large size, frightening a cat or two off of garden fences when he saw them, which made Katherine growl at him lightly. Each time, he would turn around and offer her a flash of his canines and a lolling tongue in a wolfish grin, before galloping off again merrily.

Once inside of Kings Cross, the party of people waited rather impatiently between the platforms nine and ten, until the place was free of muggle viewing. They then proceeded to enter platform 9 and ¾ by running straight through the dividing wall.

"Weird." Muttered Katherine, staring at the large, crimson train that was billowing smoke, "Feels like the seventies all over again."

Sirius, who was beside her and had obviously heard her with enhanced hearing, let out a laugh-like bark, offering her another of his grins.

"I hope the others make it in time..." Murmured Molly, scanning the platform in search for her children and Hermione anxiously.

"Nice dog, Harry!" Said a dreadlocked, tall, scruffy looking boy, and Katherine kept a warning hand on Sirius' head, for fear of him doing something stupid.

"Thanks, Lee." Harry replied happily, and Sirius stood behaved, his tail wagging frantically and occasionally hitting Katherine in the shins with it.

"You'd better stop that." Said Katherine, narrowing her eyes at Sirius, who was looking up at her with a _'What did I do?'_ false innocence expression, "I'll have bruises."

He refused, however, to stop, if anything hitting her harder in the legs with each swing of his tail.

"Oh good." Said Molly letting out a sigh of relief, "Here's Alastor with the luggage, look..."

A man limping along pushing a trolley laden with trunks and other luggage came through the archway, a porter's cap slung low over his eyes, doing little, in Katherine's view, to hide his identity.

"All okay." He grumbled to Tonks, Molly and Katherine, "Don't think we were followed..."

Following him came Ron and Hermione; then Fred, George and Ginny, accompanied by Remus.

"No trouble?" Asked Moody, frowning.

"None." Said Remus, firmly.

"I'll still be reporting Sturgis to Dumbledore." Said Moody, with a scowl, "That's the second time he's not turned up in a week. Getting as unreliable as Mundungus."

"Well, look after yourselves," Said Remus, shaking hands with the majority of Hogwarts students in the group. He turned to Harry, and gave him an endearing tap on the shoulder. "You too, Harry. Be careful."

Moody then turned to Harry also, but Katherine couldn't, nor wanted to, hear what was said, as Remus came over to her, a rather put-out look in his features. He wrapped her in a hug, his tan, muscular arms holding her closely to him.

"Don't go dying, alright?" He said, "I've just gotten you back, so don't even think about going away again."

"You got it, Moony." She replied with a smile, and with that, Remus released her.

Tonks bid her goodbyes, and Molly continued her bustling around – but Katherine's attentions were again captured elsewhere, this time by a dejected Sirius, rubbing his face against her leg. Kneeling down and burying her hands in his warm black fur, she smiled sadly.

"Be good." Sirius' face gave her an incredulous expression, which she ignored. "I'll come and see you when I can."

After she'd stood again, Sirius bounded over to Harry, placing his paws on Harry's shoulders, something that was not entirely dog-like, in a silent goodbye. Only a moment later, Molly pushed Harry away towards the train door, turning and hissing at Sirius with a face like thunder, "For heaven's sake, act more like a dog, Sirius!"

"See you!" Katherine heard Harry call out from his compartment, and she watched – a smile on her face – as Sirius chased the train down the platform as it began to move. She saw other people on the platform smiling and laughing at the giant black dog bounding after the moving train, and then it moved around a bend and Sirius disappeared from sight.

Instead of going to find Harry in whatever compartment he had chosen, Katherine decided instead that it would be more pleasant for her godson to be surprised when he realised that she would be at Hogwarts that year. Satisfied with her decision, she set off for a cabin near the back of the train which was reserved for staff – yet the majority of them were already at Hogwarts, or apparated straight to Hogsmede; so the cabin was empty. Katherine had previously assured Dumbledore that she would keep an eye on the students and make sure that they were safe and well, so that no other teachers had to board the Hogwarts Express.

Dumping her trunk into the compartment and sitting on one of the plush, maroon seats, Katherine sighed. She'd made it, she was on her way to Hogwarts once again, and she was going to do what was right. She couldn't help but wonder how much Hogwarts had stayed the same, and found herself wishing that it had not changed into something she did not recognise.

She grabbed a copy of the magazine that was sat in front of her on the stained wood table that was bolted securely to the floor of the train and noted, with some interest, that it was called _The Quibbler_. Flipping through, she found herself about as riveted as she would have been if she had been given a copy of The Daily Prophet, that was, until she reached a specific article.

'SIRIUS – BLACK AS HE'S PAINTED?

_Notorious mass murderer or innocent singing sensation?_'

Katherine had to stop herself laughing at that – thinking of the days when she would catch Sirius singing to himself as he finished his belated potions essays for Professor Slughorn, during their own time at Hogwarts.

'_It's just another boring essay,_

_Made with hate and lots of ink._

_I will never enjoy this essay,_

_Not as long as I can think!'_

At that point in the song, Katherine would have bent double laughing and assure Sirius that he must be enjoying his essay, as throughout the entire time she'd known him, he'd been unable to think.

The rest of the journey was quite uneventful, for Katherine. The occasional student would burst into her compartment, looking for something or someone; the occasional student would come in and demand that Katherine deduct house points from another individual, which she of course, refused. It was only when Draco Malfoy, a boy she recognised from his shocking blonde hair and Slytherin robes, walked past her carriage that she began to think.

What if Sirius had been spotted?

Sure, his appearance as a dog had seemed reckless at the time, yes, but it was something so typically 'Sirius' that she hadn't even begun to question it. She'd completely forgotten about the fact that they weren't eighteen any more... Sirius was a convicted mass murderer – whether he has truly committed the crimes or not was another matter entirely. They shouldn't have been so careless. What if a Ministry man had been on the platform, and had recognised Sirius' form? What if a _Death-Eater_ had been on the platform, and had recognised Sirius' form? What if Lucius Malfoy had been on the platform?

Katherine shuddered, and noted to herself that she still had yet to inform Dumbledore about Arthur seeing Lucius Malfoy at the Ministry, visiting Fudge. She knew it was a bad thing – if Fudge trusted Lucius then it was more than likely that the Death Eaters had an edge in the Ministry for when Voldemort returned. Hell, maybe they even had the power to _take over_ the Ministry this time. The thought wasn't worth entertaining recklessly, but what if?

Pulling her black teachers robes over her clothes – which consisted of a black, silk blouse and a relatively short grey skirt, along with tall black ankle boots, Katherine was definitely dressed to impress. Her crimson hair stood out against her clothes, and she looked smart – yet pretty – at the same time. She dug out an old, smart, silk witches hat and placed it carefully on her head with a sigh. Another thing she'd taken with her from her noble family, was the ability to dress for occasion.

She swept out of her compartment and breathed in the cold, brisk air that welcomed students to Scotland, making her way to the carriage that was waiting for her. Katherine realised, sadly, that Hagrid was not the one welcoming students this year – instead, a witch she did not recognise was beckoning first years towards her with a shrill, brisk voice. She could only hope that the kind-hearted man had not left.

Katherine was able to sit in, and set off in, one of the carriages before any of the students due to the fact that she didn't have any pets or luggage to carry – Dumbledore had promised that her luggage would be moved straight from her cabin on the train to her residence in Hogwarts, wherever that might have been, and she did not care for animals. She and the other marauders had never been able to agree on the most appropriate pet; as she was far more fond of felines than canines, whilst Sirius and Remus were the opposite way around. James had been impartial, and Peter had hated both – being seemingly sheepish around the creatures. They had made a pact, in their seventh year, that no animals should be owned other than an owl by any of the marauders, and as much as she was sure that the pact could have been a joke, Katherine had decided to stick to it; if nothing else, in honour of her deceased friend.

As soon as she arrived at Hogwarts, Katherine hopped out of the carriage and stared at the large castle with wonder in her eyes. It had been so long since she had visited, and she had missed it more than she had thought prior to her arrival. She swept towards the large doors into the castle with a glimmer of excitement obvious in her eyes, her black robes delicately blowing in the September breeze behind her.

"Professor Mercer!"

A beaming Professor McGonagall greeted her outside of The Great Hall, a smile in her eyes, and with some relief, Katherine realised that she too was dressed formally for the occasion. "I'm glad you decided to come!"

"I am also, Professor." She said, dashing the possible jibe she had with regards to McGonagall's obvious lack of faith in the young woman. "I trust you are well?"

"As well as could be expected," She replied, her voice morose.

Katherine would have queried it further, but the noise of other arrivals outside of the castle broke both women out of their friendly moods. McGonagall appeared to have a brighter smile, yet a guilt hidden underneath the surface- as though she felt that she were leading students to their dooms. Katherine quickly developed nervous butterflies, something she had not anticipated. Of course, she knew that they were simply children, but there were a _lot_ of children in attendance, and she wasn't the most traditional teacher. Who knew how she would be received.

"Wait in The Great Hall," Professor McGonagall told her, ushering Katherine inside, "The other Professors are already there – except Hagrid, and Professor Grubbly-Plank, of course, but we'll discuss that later..."

"I look forward to it." Katherine replied, stepping into the room and hearing the large door bang shut behind her.

The Great Hall was as magnificent and enormous as she had remembered. The tables were still separated into four, long sections; one for each of the houses. Each house had banners hanging low over their table, and a matching coloured table cloth – Green and silver for Slytherin; Yellow and black for Hufflepuff; Blue and bronze for Ravenclaw; Red and gold for Gryffindor. The ceiling was still decorated with breath-taking magic, a realistic looking star spangled night sky was in full view, meaning that the lighting of the room was provided by everlasting candles instead. A long table, designated for the teachers, stretched horizontally instead of vertically at the back of the room, and Katherine headed for it, a smile on her lips.

"This place hasn't changed a bit!"

"Ah, Professor Mercer!" Said Dumbledore, standing from where he sat at the middle of the table, directly opposite the walkway, as he gestured around, "Welcome back to Hogwarts!"

"Back?" Asked an unfamiliar woman in pink, from beside Dumbledore. Katherine had to stop herself from cringing at the woman's odd dress sense, old fashioned hair style and sickly voice. "Who's this, Albus?"

Dumbledore's jaw clenched, almost unnoticeably before replying, "This is our extra-curricular Defence Against The Dark Arts Professor, Katherine Mercer. Miss Mercer, this is our Defence Against The Dark Arts Professor, Delores Umbridge."

"A pleasure." Said Professor Umbridge, insincerely, and Katherine immediately realised the reason behind McGonagall's guilty expression.

"The pleasure's all mine." Katherine replied cheekily, and Umbridge visibly frowned.

"Are you old enough to be a Professor?" Said Umbridge, with a frown, "You look no more than twenty-one."

"Thank you, but I'm actually thirty-one," She said, sitting in the only empty seat at the teacher's table, grinning as she did so.

Umbridge looked astounded, and Dumbledore's smile looked a little more genuine.

Harry entered the hall in a rush of students, and was quickly seated at the long, gold and red table that was characteristically Gryffindor. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville Longbottom quickly found seats together, and along from them, Harry could spot the familiar faces of Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil; who both gave Harry deceptively wide smiles which put him on edge.

Hermione, and various other students, mostly from Ravenclaw, found themselves glancing at the staff table for any signs of new Professors for the upcoming year. This, in turn, sparked a large amount of conversation, rumour and speculation, spreading across all four house tables like wildfire.

"_Who the hell is that?"_

"_Is that a Ministry woman?"_

Harry's head snapped up, and much to his disgust, he was encountered with a terrible sight. One of the women at his recent hearing was sat there, her toad like face and squinting eyes obvious, yet outdone by the hideous fluffy pink cardigan that hung around her shoulders. Harry grimaced and turned to his friends.

"It's that Umbridge woman!"

"Who?" Hermione asked, drinking for a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!"

"Nice cardigan," Said Ron, sarcastically, a smirk on his face.

"Wait, she works for Fudge?" Hermione asked, looking worried, "Then what on earth is she doing here?"

Harry was about to reply with an expression of the confusion he felt, but was cut off by a rather rowdy seventh-year Gryffindor.

"_Phwoar! I'd like to dip my quill in her ink-pot, if you know what I'm sayin'!"_

His friends all murmured in rambunctious agreement, before another spoke up.

"_Wonder what she teaches?"_

Harry, Ron and Hermione's heads all looked up towards the teacher's table again, scanning for the woman of interest. They realised nothing unusual, that was, until they came to view the far left of the table. There, set with her head slightly inclined towards Professor Snape, a teasing grin on her face while a scowl lined his, was Katherine, or Mane, as Sirius referred to her.

"What the bloody hell is she doing here?" Asked Ron, his face turning pink for a reason Harry could not comprehend.

"No idea." Replied Hermione, for once, too stunned to scold Ron for his language.

"Me neither." Said Harry.

"Snape." Greeted Katherine, not unkindly, as she watched begin to pile into The Great Hall.

"Mercer." He spat back, "Does Dumbledore intend to hire every one of you eventually?"

"Certainly not. Sirius can't be employed for obvious reasons, and Peter is a damn traitor if I ever saw one. Something _you_ should know about." She said coldly, unable to keep herself from snapping back.

_Sorry, Remus._ Katherine thought, mourning the lost promise to her friend.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Severus snarled, his eyes dark.

"Whatever you think it means."

"I don't like what you're insinuating."

"If you don't like it," Katherine said, her tone turning teasing, "You shouldn't have earned the insinuation."

Severus said nothing, but grunted before taking a sip of wine from his goblet.

"You know," Said Katherine, her face thoughtful, and smile gone. "If you're willing to be civil, I am. It would make both of our lives a lot easier-"

"I don't need your pity." Said Severus, slamming his goblet down on the table with a loud 'clang'. "I didn't need it then, and I don't need it now."

Katherine could have attempted to convinced Severus that she was not offering civility out of pity, but she was sure that her efforts would go unrewarded. The man was so stubborn, and stuck in his ways that there was nothing she could do, nor say, to change it.

"Whatever you say." She compromised by replying, and before she could stop herself, she had inclined her head towards his slightly, a teasing grin on her lips, "Snivellus."

Severus simply scowled.

A large, familiar, floppy brown hat was brought into the room by Professor McGonagall, who was followed by various, nervous looking first years. Placing the hat onto the stool in front of the teachers table, McGongall stepped to the side and clutched the list of names to her chest, the school waiting in baited breath for the Sorting Hat's song.

The song was familiar and almost calming for Katherine, but when she expected the song to stop, it continued, and she listened closely with furrowed brows.

"_I sort you into houses_

_Because this is what I'm for,_

_But this year I'll go further._

_Listen closely to my song:_

_Though condemned I am to split you_

_Still I worry that it's wrong,_

_Though I must fulfil my duty_

_And must quarter every year_

_Still I wonder whether Sorting_

_May not bring the end I fear._

_Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

_The warning history shows,_

_For our Hogwarts is in danger_

_From external, deadly foes_

_And we must unite inside her_

_Or we'll crumble from within_

_I have told you, I have warned you..._

_Let the Sorting now begin.'_

Secretly, Katherine wondered if someone had stolen a look at the Order's files and read it to the Sorting Hat, or if the Sorting Hat was simply a seer itself. It's predictions were not surprising to Katherine – she had predicted something similar herself, and she was almost certain by the look on Harry's face that he too knew what the Sorting hat was referring to. Dumbledore looked slightly more pale than usual, the first years slightly more wide-eyed, and the other students had erupted into a series of quiet chatter over the daunting words.

"Weirdly accurate..." Murmured Katherine, to no-one in particular.

Severus, however, who must have heard her, hummed non-committally in agreement.

When the students had been sorted, McGonagall reading out each individual name from a long list of them on a piece of parchment, and they had all been seated, Dumbledore stood from his seat once again, and clapped his hands joyfully.

"To our newcomers, welcome! To our old-hands - welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

Students and Professors laughed appreciatively at Dumbledore's words, clapped loudly in applause and then gasped and grinned at the large plates of food that appeared on the tables in front of them, filling them to the brim with all kinds of meat, fish, pie, carbohydrate, vegetable, sauces and condiments imaginable. Large pitchers filled with pumpkin juice were present, and Katherine guessed that the Hogwarts house elves must have placed some kind of anti-spilling charm on them, as when jogged they stayed perfectly intact.

Raising a forkful of pasta, Katherine turned to Severus, her eyes innocent and wide.

"Severus?"

"What do you want?" He snapped, knowing by the way that she used his first name that she wanted something. She grinned in return.

"Is there any way I can get a weekly Wolfsbane potion from you? I mean – you don't have to like me, but-"

"For the half-breed." He finished, rather rudely.

"For Remus, yes." Said Katherine, her eye twitching something with the effort of withholding a retort. "It's harder for me to help him out now that I'm here, and-"

"Why are you here?"

Katherine sighed and chewed on her pasta, swallowing and calming herself before replying, "To look after my godson."

Severus' eyes snapped to hers. "You're his-?"

"Yes."

"Then where were you?" Severus scowled, "For the past five years, where have you been?"

"Mourning." Said Katherine, brutally honest, "You're a stronger man than I, Snivellus."

Severus frowned at the backhanded compliment and felt a pang of pity for the scarlet haired woman. If anyone should know about losses, it was him – after all, James' wife, Lily, had been somewhat a good friend to him, as much as he would have liked it to evolve into more.

"Collect it on Friday." Said Severus abruptly, and seeing the confusion on Katherine's face, he sighed, "The Wolfsbane, silly woman!"

Her confused face morphed quickly into one of surprised joy.

"Thanks, Snape!" She said, smiling, "It means a lo-"

"Shut up." He cut her off, sharply.

Katherine rolled her eyes and sipped her pumpkin juice. "Some things never change."

When the majority of students had finished eating – the food on the tables having disappeared, Dumbledore stood once more. All students and staff had reached a silent agreement to halt their conversations, and silence reigned – an interest in what their wise headmaster had to say.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and began, "Well. Now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices. First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too.

Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time..." Katherine's attentions drifted off as she remembered the caretaker's cat, Mrs. Norris, and smirked. Her affiliation with felines had, at many points, helped the marauders to escape from a large amount of detention for being out so late at night.

"...We have three changes in our staffing this year." Dumbledore continued, catching Katherine's attention again. "We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are pleased to welcome Professor Mercer as your extra-curricular Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, who, much like you – attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry-"

Dumbledore was cut off by a number of wolf-whistles and chatter that erupted as Katherine raised her hand in welcome.

"I wonder why they felt the need to have an extra-curricular Defence teacher..." Said Ron over at the Gryffindor table, frowning, "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

Harry shrugged and Hermione simply stayed silent, as though her logical brain had already figured out the reason behind the Headmaster's actions.

"Always one to attract a crowd, aren't we, Mercer?" Hissed Severus into a smiling Katherine's ear. She turned her head slightly towards him, smile not fading in the slightest.

"At least I'm not a dour, old-looking man with a face like thunder." She practically sang back.

"Quiet!" Dumbledore roared, his voice surprisingly loud. He cleared his throat again and continued, "We are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Unenthusiastic applause sounded the room, echoing off the walls and sounding even more hollow than it originally would have been, as students took in the sight of the puffy-pink teacher, with an odd looking smile, sat next to Dumbledore.

"_She's_ teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts?" Whispered Neville.

"So that's why..." Said Ron, quietly.

"Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the-"

Dumbledore was cut off by an annoying sounding, high pitched, '_Hem, hem_' from beside him. He looked slightly taken aback as the woman in pink stood, obviously intending on making a speech, but he masked his shock, sitting back in his chair and looking to her with attention, as though he honestly desired to hear what she had to say. The students all seemed rather astounded, and didn't bother to hide it, and the staff were equally poor at hiding their emotions, although Katherine looked more amused than shocked. Severus, looked quite simply, rather annoyed.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge started, in what could only be described as a girlish-simper, "For those kind words of welcome."

Katherine's smirk widened as the woman gave another attention seeking, _'hem, hem'_, before continuing.

"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"

This time, Katherine couldn't help herself from snorting, her eyes glittering with mirth. The students, half of whom weren't bothering to look at Umbridge at all, and the other half who were scowling reverently, turned to look at their other new Professor with an amused smile.

"Is there a problem, Professor Mercer?" Umbridge asked, sneering slightly.

"Oh no, no." Katherine said, waving a hand back and forth in dismissal, "Not at all. Continue, please."

Professor Umbridge frowned, turning back to the students in The Great Hall and offering them another simpering toothy grin – one that looked as though it should be reserved for when addressing five-year-olds. "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

Umbridge cleared her throat with another _'hem, hem'_, and began talking in a more dignified, serious tone, that had Katherine raising her eyebrows slightly.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down the generations..."

Katherine's interest drifted off, and she instead found herself studying the expressions of the people around her – gauging their reactions to the woman who put herself on a high pedestal. Severus looked positively disgusted, McGonagall looked incredibly disapproving and slightly concerned, her eyebrows pressed together as she glanced meaningfully at Professor Sprout and Harry looked rather uncomfortable to say the least. It then occurred to Katherine that if this woman worked within the ministry – and by the sounds of her rehearsed speech, she did – it was more than likely that she was at Harry's trial for magical misuse. Perhaps Umbridge would be one to watch; Katherine certainly wouldn't have her godson treated unfairly for a crime of which he had been cleared.

"...because some changes will be for the better, while others, will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement." Umbridge continued, seemingly unaware of the waning attentions of her audience, and the unsettled expressions on the staff's faces. "Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what ought to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practises that ought to be prohibited."

Suddenly, Umbridge's rather large, pink robe clad bottom found its way back into her seat. Graciously, Dumbledore clapped, but the staff and only a couple of students clapped once or twice before letting the applause fall flat. Dumbledore stood up again and began speaking, interrupting the awkward, and somewhat tense, silence.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating." Said Dumbledore, bowing politely in her direction, "Now as I was saying..."

"Now, Snivellus-" Said Katherine, in a low, accusing tone, ignoring Severus' face of disapproval at the name, "Not that we get on, but wasn't that just _'most illuminating'_?"

"Not that we get on," Severus responded in a growl, "But it was _'most illuminating' _indeed."

Katherine had been shown to her quarters by Dumbledore personally after the feast, whilst their silence spoke volumes. Dumbledore recognised by Katherine, a marauder's, uncharacteristic silence as a sign that she was very unimpressed with the speech of Professor Umbridge, and could guess that she was quite concerned. Katherine, on the other hand, could tell by Dumbledore's uncharacteristic silence that he was thinking rather hard about how he could prevent any more of the Ministry's involvement within his beloved establishment.

"Thank you, Headmaster." Said Katherine, after Dumbledore had told her the password to the portrait guarding her office, which was stationed behind her desk in her very own Defence classroom, "How should I go about recruiting students?"

"I'd put up a couple of pieces of parchment around, for students to be able to register," He replied, "I'd imagine that after tomorrow, you'll have quite a lot of participants."

"What makes you say that?" Said Katherine, sarcastically.

"I think you know." Replied Dumbledore, his face stern, "Goodnight, Miss Mercer. Sleep well."

"You too, sir." She'd said, as he exited the empty classroom.

Katherine turned to the portrait; a tall, handsome, regal looking blonde man stood looking at her with an expression she could only suppose was lust in his painted eyes. Rolling her eyes, she muttered 'marauders', the password she'd chosen, and the portrait moved aside in a way that was typically Gryffindor.

"Come back if you want to _talk_." Said the man in the portrait, suggestively, and Katherine laughed slightly, stepping through into her quarters.

"We'll see." She replied, wanting to remain on good terms with her doorman.

Dumbledore had clearly arranged for her living space to be decorated to make her feel at home – as the room was practically the same as the girl's dormitory in Gryffindor Tower, except for the fact that it was designed for one person. The walls and floors were cream, but lavish red and gold curtains, bedding and cushions were scattered around in their respective placed – curtains hung above windows, bedding made up neatly on a large bed, and cushions on a soft maroon chair, that sat neatly beside a bookshelf. The bookshelf itself was stocked with books not only on Defence, but on Transfigurations, Potions, and Charms – the subjects Katherine had performed reasonably well in whilst at Hogwarts. There were also various books that belonged in the restricted section; on various specialised Dark Arts, and even Animagi, a present which was addressed to her from Professor McGonagall on the first page of the book.

Turning away from her bookshelf, Katherine flopped herself down on the large, soft bed which took up a large amount of space in the room and yawned. She was suddenly incredibly tired, and decided that it would be best to sleep now, so that she was well rested for the busy day ahead of her.


	6. Defence Against The Dark Arts

**A/N - ERRATIC UPDATE GO!**

**So yeah, I guess it's safe to say I'm not keeping to a schedule any more. Each update will be a little nice surprise for y'all from now on, I guess ;D**

**I'm going to respond to reviews and shiz at the bottom of this chapter in another A/N, So see you in four thousand, eight hundred and fifteen words time!**

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* * *

-CHAPTER SIX-

_Defence Against the Dark Arts_

The next morning, Katherine found herself waking up relatively late. She spent a while lying on the soft, red sheets and looking blearily at all of the decorations of the room. If Dumbledore's intention had been to make her feel 'at home', then he'd certainly succeeded. She'd slept so long that Katherine found she'd missed breakfast – not that it was any particular loss, as she didn't normally eat then anyway. She rolled out of bed and retrieved her hat, which had rolled onto the floor after she'd fallen asleep abruptly the previous evening.

Katherine grimaced at the fact that she'd been too tired to change, walking quickly into the bathroom that was connected to her room and showering and wrapping herself in a fluffy white towel upon exiting.

She changed quickly, into clothes much the same as she had worn the previous day, the only difference being that she substituted her black blouse for a white one, and dried her hair with a charm she'd learnt back when she was a student herself. She cast another charm on her, now wrinkled, robes to make them pristine again, before slipping them on, but not fastening them, so that they hung open from her shoulders.

Stepping through the portrait and sweeping out of her office, her mind drifted to the first task of the day. Speaking to Dumbledore. There weren't many students in the halls, as it was directly half-way through their second lesson, but the ones who had a free period for studying offered her a small smile as she walked past them. Unlike Umbridge, it was obvious that Katherine hadn't neglected to make a decent first impression.

Katherine realised, when she'd arrived outside of the grey, grouchy gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office, that she didn't yet know the password. She decided that instead of standing around until someone came along, she'd guess – the worst that could happen was that it wouldn't open, and it might actually save her time.

"Acid pops, Chocolate frogs, Jelly beans, Strawberry laces, Sherbert Lemons, Sugar mice, Cola bottles, wine gums, Fruit pastels, Polos... Jazzies? No? Okay then, stupid gargoyle." Said Katherine, getting frustrated, "I bet it's something bloody ridiculous like those disgusting Tooty Fruities..."

The gargoyle leapt aside, and Katherine couldn't stop herself from sighing and rolling her eyes as she passed. "Of course. The most damn disgusting muggle sweets..."

Before she could even raise her fist to knock, she heard a quiet, 'come in' from Dumbledore, so she simply twisted the handle and walked into his office. Katherine saw him sitting behind his desk with a knowing smile, and she returned it with an incredulous expression.

"You knew I was outside the whole time." She said, assuredly, closing the door behind her.

"I did." Dumbledore confirmed.

"Why didn't you let me in, if you knew?"

"Well, that wouldn't have been so amusing, would it?" Said Dumbledore, and Katherine opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off. "With such terrors coming to the Wizarding world, does it not make sense to enjoy the small things?"

To that, Katherine couldn't argue.

"So," Dumbledore began, pushing his spectacles up his nose slightly and flicking his long beard over his shoulder to rid it from his view, "What concerns you?"

Katherine didn't bother to ask how Dumbledore knew something was bothering her – she had often been told that she was quite an easy person to read, and Dumbledore seemed to know everything anyway.

"The day Harry was tried." She said slowly, and Dumbledore leant forwards in interest, "Arthur said that Lucius was at the Ministry, conversing with Fudge."

Dumbledore's bright blue eyes widened, his face becoming serious. He thrust a pale hand towards the chair on the opposite side of the desk he sat at, and Katherine humoured him by taking a seat herself.

"I am concerned, Dumbledore." Said Katherine seriously, "What if the Death-Eaters are preparing an overtaking of the Ministry?"

"It's likely." Replied Dumbledore, equally solemn, "They're preparing, preparing for the time Voldemort is at full power once again. The good news is that it won't happen immediately – we have a couple of years, but the bad news is, that might not be enough time to figure out how to cause his downfall."

For a moment, Katherine was astounded at his openness, and Dumbledore noticed it – offering a small smile.

"Of course, I'm telling you this so that I can trust someone else to keep an eye on our Ministry Official." Said Dumbledore, honestly, "You obviously are slightly better placed to keep an inconspicuous eye on things than I am."

"You want me to be a spy?" Asked Katherine, her eyes wide.

"Oh heavens no." Said Dumbledore, intertwining his fingers underneath his chin, "That's Severus' job, when the time comes. No, you just need to be another eye; especially in the case of Harry. He's a quiet boy, and doesn't truly trust many- he might keep a tight-lip on something important-"

"Dumbledore," Katherine cut him off, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise at the fact, "With all due respect, I cannot and will not use the relationship with Harry to attain information. By all means, I will keep a keen watch on events, but I am by no means going to delve into what he may not want shared. That is his decision."

"Oh, of course." Mumbled Dumbledore, looking a little disappointed.

Katherine stood and nodded at the whimsical man, "I have flyers to hang, sir, so I hope to speak to you soon."

"Indeed." He replied, "And I wish you the best of luck!"

She smiled before turning and swiftly leaving the room.

* * *

On the way back to her own classroom, Katherine summoned a few sheets of parchment with her own handwriting on them in slick, black ink. Her handwriting was slanted and studious – rather scrawling yet delicate at the same time.

'_Extra-curricular, practical Defence Against the Dark Arts – First meeting on the 3__nd__ of September at 5.00pm, from then on all weekdays. (Monday – Friday)_

_As taught by Professor Mercer – held in the new extra-curricular Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom on the third floor, the second room on the right._

_Registration sheet – First name, Surname, Year group and House is required.'_

She proceeded to stick them onto walls using her wand, in corridors which were the busiest before heading back to her room, a genuine smile on her face. She was glad to be teaching students what had been her favourite subject – and not having to worry about the theoretical side of things. Katherine decided that she would collect the sheets at the end of the evening of the same day; she hoped that after then, the information would be spread through the student community instead. Presuming things went well.

In hind sight, she considered that perhaps she should have made the registration sheets slightly more inviting, but that was something that could be rectified later if necessary.

Arriving back in her classroom and closing the door behind her, Katherine entered her living quarters through the flirty portrait and headed straight for the fireplace. It was because of this fireplace – which was connected to the Floo network, its status as 'open' or 'closed' controlled by Katherine herself, that made her believe that Dumbledore had faith in her. He obviously trusted her to have good judgement on those who went in, and out of Hogwarts.

Kneeling next to the crackling flames, she withdrew her wand and waved it to open the Floo network, before taking a handful of powder from the decorative, floral pot that sat on the top of the mantelpiece. Throwing it into the fireplace so that the flames went green, she whispered the address of the Order headquarters and stuck her head into the fire.

"Padfoot? Moony? Anyone around?" She called, blinking so that a room she recognised as the lounge coming into view.

A series of crashing and loud footsteps followed her calls, and she grinned in response.

"Who's there?" Came Sirius' voice, deeper as he was attempting to distort it. Katherine snorted at the view of his long legs in a defensive stance, "Show yourself!"

"Fireplace! ...Idiot."

"Katherine?" Yelled Sirius, his voice returning to normal, "Blimey! You scared the hell out of me!"

"Yeah, for future reference – that voice isn't going to fool anyone."

"'_That voice isn't going to fool anyone,'_" Sirius imitated, kneeling in front of his own fireplace so that he could see Katherine with ease, and she could see him, "So how's Hogwarts?"

"Same as ever, except from the fact that a damn Ministry woman is working here now."

"Really?" Sirius frowned, "I thought it was just a myth."

"It was, now it isn't." Said Katherine, her expression matching Sirius', "Right old cow. Anyway, is Remus around?"

"No." Sirius snapped, Katherine noting with some interest that he was clenching and unclenching his fist subconsciously.

_Interesting._

"Why?" He asked, on edge.

"I talked to Snivellus," Katherine scowled with disgust upon thinking of the man, "He's agreed to brew up some Wolfsbane weekly. I just wanted to let him know that I'd be by on Saturdays to deliver it."

"Be by?" Grinned Sirius, "You mean, come here? To Gri- I mean, headquarters?!"

"Uhm, Yes?"

"Woo!" Sirius exclaimed, pulling a face that reminded Katherine rather a lot of a puppy. She'd had to stop herself from laughing.

"It's good to know I've been missed!"

"You have!" Said Sirius, seriously for a moment before he back-tracked slightly, "Remus is never around, and I won't be able to speak to Harry barely at all-"

"Barely at all?" Said Katherine, eyes narrowing dangerously, "Padfoot, don't you dare do anything-"

"-stupid, I know." He sighed, "It's just hard, Harry not being here. I'd just gotten used to having him around... At least you're there to look after him, I suppose."

"You're a good man, Padfoot." Katherine smiled genuinely, thrilled that Sirius could see beyond his own selfishness and see what would benefit Harry.

Sirius barked out a laugh. "I don't get told that very often!"

"Well it's true, isn't it?"

"I'd like to think so, but, Mane-" Said Sirius, clearly preparing to go off on a tangent as he bit his lip and his eyes narrowed in confusion. "How did you know that I wasn't the one to have harmed James and Lily? I never told you otherwise, and the only thing you saw after you went away was the press... hell, even Moony thought I was guilty for a time!"

"He did?" Said Katherine, her eyebrows furrowing before she shook her head. "I'll talk to him later. But, Sirius, there was no logical reason to believe that you did it. You loved James as much as I did; not to mention that it was without doubt that the task was committed by Death-Eaters – a force you'd been in some way resisting ever since you've been twelve."

Sirius laughed again, only it had a softer sound this time. "It's times like these that I remember why I put up with you!"

"You put up with me? More like I put up with- never mind." Katherine shook her head, "Listen, Sirius, I've got to go. I've still got a bit to do, and I haven't eaten today so-"

"You haven't eaten?" He cut her off, "But it's almost half six in the evening! How are you supposed to look after Harry if you're not looking after yourself?"

"It's half past six?" Katherine asked, but seeing Sirius' stern face only made her laugh. "Alright, alright _mum_, I'm going. Take care, Padfoot."

"You too, Mane. I'll be sure to talk to Moony for you!"

"Thanks!" Said Katherine, pulling her head from the fire.

Back in 12 Grimmauld place, Sirius suddenly had a bout of stoicism overcome him at the loss of contact with his friend. He'd found himself feeling surprisingly annoyed every time Katherine mentioned Remus; a similar thing had actually happened a while ago, beginning in his fifth year at Hogwarts, and not going away until he'd been apprehended and taken to Azkaban.

James would always laugh at him when Sirius talked to him about it. He'd call Sirius '_stupid_' and '_painfully ignorant'_, before whacking him on the shoulder and telling him that he'd '_work it out'_. He still hadn't, and it was a good ten years later. Sirius began to doubt that he'd ever would 'work it out'; it made the clinch in his gut all the more annoying because of the fact that he wasn't entirely sure of what it was.

_Maybe I'm sick_. He thought, grimacing and flopping onto the dusty settee behind him. _But sick for seventeen years?_

* * *

The next day was, for the most part, as blissfully uneventful as the day before. In the previous evening, Katherine had changed all of her posters with a flick of her wand; changing them from what they were to enlarged advertisements with only the words, '_Extra-curricular, practical Defence Against the Dark Arts – Next meeting on the 3__nd__ of September at 5.00pm As taught by Professor Mercer – held in the new extra-curricular Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom on the third floor, the second room on the right.'._ She'd charmed it, so that the date changed to the next meeting – whenever that should be – and decided that as the class was voluntary, she wouldn't really need to register students. It would be nice to know how many, or whom, would be in attendance – but that was easily rectified by mentally noting how many people came to her first 'class'.

Katherine stepped out of the portrait at roughly quarter to five in the afternoon and to her delight, yet somewhat disparagement, there was no student already waiting for her in the classroom, having turned up early. She waved her wand so that a series of letters formed on the chalkboard, spelling out 'Please wait patiently, and do not pet the animal. – Professor Mercer', before placing her wand on her desk. Katherine removed her robes, and slung that black garment over the back of her desk's chair messily.

Closing her eyes, she began what she considered to be an art. She pictured her other form, clearing her mind of any and all interruptions. All of the darkness in the world, all of the worries were temporarily forgotten, and in its place...

"_Rawr."_

Katherine opened her eyes again and, looking down at where she now was standing on all fours- on lion's paws. Her Animagus form, which until recently, hadn't been registered, was indeed of a female lion; hence the name given to her by the marauders. She did not have a mane of course – only male lions did, but until she'd come along, _all_ of the marauders had been male. For a while, James and Sirius had both kidded that she must have been a man in disguise, thus refused to change her nickname.

Not that she particularly minded anymore.

Gracefully leaping onto her desk, Katherine managed to avoid shuffling any papers and books around at all, keeping them safely where they lay. She quickly settled down, putting her head upon her paws and closing her eyes peacefully – senses enhanced enough so that she knew what was happening around her. Katherine knew that if Sirius had been there, in his Animagius form, he would have bounded all over everything, shuffling and tearing papers in his wake. He wasn't a particularly delicate creature, but then again, Katherine doubted that any canine was.

As though someone had flipped an 'on' switch, students began to pile into Katherine's classroom, each becoming slightly more scared by the unmoving lion than the last. Some speculated that it was dead – others speculated that it was merely a plush toy. It wasn't until Harry and his friends turned up, engaged in some kind of debate, that she had her attentions captured, however.

"-are you doing here, Malfoy?"

One of Katherine's eyes snapped open at the familiar name, and those students who noticed began hyperventilating and becoming quickly aware of the 'danger'.

"Am I not allowed to learn, Potter? Oh," Said Draco his snotty tone scathing, "And how's your hand?"

"How did you know about that?" Demanded Ron, furiously.

"Not all of us are idiots. Though I suppose, if you're born a Weasley, it's genetic..."

"You take that back." Spat Ron, and Katherine noticed, out of the corner of a feline eye, that he was gripping his wand tightly in his hand.

"Make. Me." Draco taunted, but before Ron could do anything, Katherine had leapt off of the desk and stood between the two characters.

An audible gasp rang throughout the room at the sight of the magnificent stone coloured creature, who seemed calm, yet threatening. Ron's face drained of all colour, and Katherine watched in amusement as Draco's eyes bulged out of their head. Harry too, looked surprised, and Katherine had to restrain herself from barking of a laugh at the collective inability to notice something so blatantly obvious as a lion beforehand.

"There- there's a bloody _lion_!" Stuttered Ron, blanching, "This is almost as bad as the spiders!"

"Almost? I think this _lioness,_" Said Hermione, subtly correcting Ron, "is far more dangerous."

Katherine looked up into Harry's eyes, her grey-blue meeting his green. His eyes flashed in shock and recognition – Katherine supposed he'd had many experiences around Animagi, being so close to Sirius and McGonagall, so he probably knew what to expect of one. She tilted her head in kindness.

"Ka- Professor?!"

"What?" Said Ron, meekly.

Katherine quickly turned back into her human form before stepping back onto two feet, and greeting her new students with a smile. As she looked around, she noticed with some interest that Dumbledore had been right – she had far more potential students than she had at first, anticipated.

Looking back round to Harry, she saw with amusement that Ron had gained back his colour – and then some – Draco and his goons all looked at her with a strange, hormone clouded lust, and Hermione looked as though she were mentally hitting herself for not recognising an Animagus form sooner.

"Very good, Harry. Five points to Gryffindor."

Turning away and walking back to her desk, she grabbed her robes and slipped them over her blouse, also picking up her wand from the desk before turning back to her class; all of whom were giving her looks of admiration, and some of amusement. She realised that she had a good mix of students from different houses, although the majority of students were of upper age groups – not that it bothered her.

"So, seeing as this is Defence Against the Dark Arts..." Said Katherine, grinning, "Anyone know the significance of what I just did?"

Hermione's hand shot up.

"Hermione?"

"It was an Animagus form. An Animagus is a wizard or witch who elects to turn into an animal-"

"True." Said Katherine, pausing Hermione's speech, "But that's more transfiguration than Defence."

The class fell silent, and only Harry raised a tentative hand, his palm shaking as he did so.

"Don't look so scared! Yes, Harry?"

"A Patronus charm takes the form of an animal, so maybe..." Said Harry, nervously.

"Maybe...?" She encouraged.

"Is the Animagus form of a wizard the same as their Patronus'?"

"Right you are!" Katherine beamed, raising her wand, "Expecto Patronum!"

From the tip of her wand evolved a strong wisp of silvery smoke, which quickly formed she shape of a lioness leaping around the room in graceful bounds. The students, who before had been in their state of frozen shock, now had expressions of awe as the beautiful mysterious sight surrounded the room.

With a flick of her wand, the Patronus faded.

"Patronus' are built from joyous memories – the kind of happiness that not only satisfies your heart for a fickle moment, but the kind of happiness that could last you a life-time. It is with this joy that it is possible to strike down Dementors."

"This is really high level, though." Draco said smarmily, but almost nervously. "We shouldn't be learning this-"

"Do you want to defend yourself or not?" Replied Katherine, "Dementors are practically life threatening – and unless you want to have the risk of becoming a soulless corpse, I suggest you try it. Now-" Katherine walked quickly to the board, her robes flowing behind her gracefully as she did. She picked the chalk up in her own hand, drawing, beneath her earlier message, an odd yet simple shaped line.

"Your wand must move in this motion. You must say 'Expecto Patronum' like you mean it, while thinking of a time as which you were the happiest you could ever be. A time at which you had such happiness inside of you that you found yourself feeling like you could be no happier – like you could have died contented at that moment. When you have your memory, cast the charm."

"Sounds simple enough." Said Draco, and Katherine raised her eyebrows as the noticed Hermione nodding in agreement.

"It's not." Said Katherine, "But if you're determined, you'll get it. Find a partner and work with them. You may begin!"

* * *

Katherine had kept the classroom open for students to practise in until eight, and then insisted that they leave to eat in The Great Hall. She and Harry offered advice and guidance when they could – the most determined of them being able to produce fully-fledged Patronus by the end of the session. Miss Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, and unsurprisingly Draco Malfoy were three examples of this, but what did surprise Katherine was the willingness with which Hermione and Draco partnered up, and the lack of arguments they shared. Ron, Harry, Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe looked equally confused, but both characters involved in the odd partnership were defensive and denied friendship or anything of the sort.

Other students who had not been so successful were still showing signs of progress- producing a simple shapeless mist from the tips of their wands. All in all, students went away feeling accomplished – more so than they had done after Umbridge's lessons, and Katherine herself felt quite satisfied with their progress.

"Harry?" She called out as he turned to leave with Ron, Hermione and Neville. They were the only people left in her classroom now, and were being forced out to get something to eat, "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

Harry nodded, and Hermione told him that they would wait for him outside as she left the classroom. Katherine walked over to him, smiling as she ruffled his unruly hair and fixed his glasses which were slightly crooked from the challenge of teaching students to cast such a spell as a Patronus.

"I'm impressed at the strength of your Patronus charm, Harry." Said Katherine, her smile wide, "Did Remus teach you?"

It took a moment for Harry's mind to register that Remus and Lupin were indeed the same person, but when he did, he nodded.

"A couple of years ago."

"Years ago?" Said Katherine concernedly, "Were you in danger?"

"Yeah, I'm always in danger!" Harry said, but chuckled nervously as Katherine looked horrified. "But it's alright, I can handle it!"

Katherine looked at him doubtfully, but shook it off. "Moving on. Harry, what was this I heard about your hand?"

"Nothing." Harry muttered defensively, but subconsciously shielded his right hand with his left, "Why?"

"Both Ron and Draco seemed to think something had happened to it earlier." Said Katherine, snatching Harry's hand from him when he wasn't paying full attention.

"Hey, don't-"

"Harry!"

Written on Harry's hand in a series of deep lines – fresh wounds, Katherine realised, were the words '_I must not tell lies_', written over and over. It looked as though it must be unbearably painful, the kind of stinging pain that partnered such thin cuts.

"How in the hell-"

"Umbridge." Said Harry, dismally, no longer attempting to fight Katherine's soothing grip on his hand. "Kept making me sound like I was lying about Voldemort, and people are already being horrible about it; I haven't even done anything wrong! I just couldn't take it anymore, and I... snapped."

"Just verbally?" Asked Katherine, logically.

"Yeah." Harry replied, drearily, "She gave me a detention – it involved this quill-"

"Which used your own blood. I know, I'm familiar with it." Katherine frowned, remembering a similar quill which had been used against her when filling out a proclamation of Sirius' innocence fifteen years ago; which had, of course, been ignored. Cursing, she dragged Harry with her to the portrait at the back of her room, mumbled the password so that Harry was unable to hear it, and dragged him into her private room.

"Stay here." She said quickly, darting off towards her trunk while Harry took in the surprisingly familiar surroundings.

"You were in Gryffindor?"

"Yep." Said Katherine, "Didn't I tell you that when we first met? No? I don't know - I forget, have always had a bad memory!"

"It explains how you knew my dad and Sirius." Said Harry, thoughtfully.

"It does indeed." After some more rummaging in her trunk, Katherine resurfaced, in her hand an odd kind of salve. "Aha!"

"Aha?" Questioned Harry.

"Aha." She confirmed, "Handy little cream, this one. I would tell you to go and get your own from Snivellus, but he's still quite a sour-puss."

"Snivellus?" Said Harry, snorting.

"Oh, sh! Don't repeat that, whatever you do."

Katherine walked towards him, unscrewing the lid to reveal an opalescent balm, before throwing the lid carelessly onto the bed behind her. She looked at Harry expectantly, but he just looked back at her, confused.

"Your hand, Harry."

"Oh." He said, holding it out again. Katherine had to stop herself from wincing at the sight of the marks on her godson, even though she'd already seen them. It pained her to see him hurt, and it made her hate Umbridge all the more.

Tenderly, she applied some of the cream to Harry's wounds and saw his face relax as he gave an audible sigh of relief.

"Takes away the pain, right? I have no idea what it is – could be one-hundred percent flobberworm mucus for all I know." She said, more tenderly than Harry had ever heard her speak before, "Yeah, this is most definitely an old favourite."

"And a new favourite." Harry amended, and Katherine smiled.

"Look at your hand, Harry."

Harry did as he was told, and saw that before his eyes, the wounds healed extremely quickly and faded away – leaving no scars, no marks; only a cooling, tingling sensation on the newly formed skin. His mouth dropped open, and Katherine retrieved the lid to her salve, throwing it back into her trunk and picking up a roll of bandages.

"So that toad-face doesn't get suspicious." She replied to Harry's inquisitive glance, and he nodded. "Try not to rile her up anymore, okay Harry? If she pulls anything like this again – come and see me; we'll patch you up. At the moment, I can't really do very much about her; she's quite proudly from the Ministry, but I can definitely keep you in good health."

"Thank you." Said Harry, trying not to be disappointed at his godmother's lack of power.

Pulling Harry into a hug, Katherine sighed. Nothing was ever simple for Harry, and she knew it. She wished that for just one year, it could be – and she could see Harry's similar exasperation with the events in his facial expression. She would do her best to keep him safe, but she had indirectly promised Dumbledore to limit her interference, and she would abide by the silent agreement as far as she could.

"Right then," She said, releasing him, "Be good. Go and get some dinner, alright?"

Harry nodded and went to leave but froze, turning around and smiling.

"Thanks Katherine."

"Don't mention it, bud." Said Katherine, waving as he stepped through the portrait-hole and out of the classroom to join his friends for dinner.

Katherine flopped back onto her bed, a scowl set firmly into her features. As much as she'd bought that salve in case of cuts and bruises – which she was assured Harry would gain – she didn't think that they would be so serious. Or so _soon_ into the school year. She'd had to use it many times in her old school days, but never for wounds which had been caused by dark magic; only wounds that she had obtained from helping Remus to keep his humanity around the time of the full moon.

More than anything, though, she was concerned about how Draco Malfoy knew from the outset that Harry had been harmed.

**A/N #2**

**-BEFORE I BEGIN; Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, and to those who haven't (and have, I don't mind!) REVIEW DAMMIT. Writing is a lot of effort; REWARD ME!-**

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**Ali - I referred to you before, and I'll refer to you again! BAM, your point has been answered, Katherine's animagus revealed! You're welcome. ;-)**

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**Lightbabe (Again? Two reviews? You kick-ass, kick-ass person. Iloveyou!) - Yes! All of those things I love writing, and there is more of all of them to come! Stay tuned!**

**Ali (Again? Aw, you loyal guys make me smile:-)) - Here is the part you wanted to read about!;-D**

**xXAlledgedAngelXx - Hahaha! Yes, I think Mr. Flirty McFlirtston (AKA. Painting Boy) is getting a little bit ahead of himself! Though, who knows what's possible in the Harry Potter universe? And, wait for it! It's coming up real soon! Promise!**

**ICan'tThinkOfACleaverUsername - Yes. That is true. Lily would have had to have had Harry AS SOON AS she left school, meaning that she was pregnant before she 'graduated'. But, for this story, it's gotta be that way! Maybe I'll write a short thing about James and Lily in the future to allow it to make more sense, but for now you'll just have to take it as is!**

**TantiraNari - You mean you want to translate it and publish the story yourself? I guess you can; but you'd have to credit me when you do so!**

**AND THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS! Thanks to all reviewers so far, you're all awesome, and I appreciate all feedback whole-heartedly.**

** NIGHTY NIGHT! (Or G'day, or Good Morning, depending upon where you're from!)**


	7. Intuition

**A/N- Ah, the moment you've all been waiting for! ;D **

**Enjoy! Leave a _Review_ if you liked it / have any ideas for it; _Story Alert_ it if you want to see more, _Favourite_ it if you love it, and_ Author Alert_ me if you love me!**

-CHAPTER SEVEN-

_Intuition_

The practical Defence classes that Katherine ran after school hours were continually busy, and equally as successful as the first had been. The students were all making significant progress, much to Umbridge's disgust as she often informed Katherine over dinner in The Great Hall, but Katherine gave it no mind. She did not find herself caring at all about what Umbridge did and did not approve of, so simply dismissed her – often by making a witty remark about Umbridge's clothes, or annoying '_hem hem_' habit, to which she often suggested visiting a doctor for some medication for 'that nasty cough'.

On Friday, Katherine found herself in the dungeons of Hogwarts; the potions room, to be exact; immediately after lessons had finished for the day. Surprisingly, the laboratory like room was actually quite welcoming – Katherine had always enjoyed potions, regardless of the fact that Professor Slughorn had consistently preferred Severus' potions over hers. She had followed the book to the letter, while she had often seen Severus adding a little something extra or not following the instructions to the mark; proving how talented he was. He knew potion theory so well that he could immediately discover the most effective way of brewing a potion and carry it out – a skill Katherine had always marvelled.

Bringing out a large vial of Wolfsbane, Severus handed it to Katherine silently, as there was little to say. The instructions were already written on the bottle in Severus' 'picture perfect' handwriting, so that Remus would know exactly how to use it. After Katherine had bid a quiet 'thank you', she had left too, with few words.

It seemed that, although they had a disagreement the previous weekend upon Katherine's abrupt arrival to Hogwarts, and disagreed on the idea of civility, they were now, indeed, civil with one another. One could not possibly class them friends – they were people of few words around one another, but one might refer to them as polite acquaintances; each silently acknowledging the other as having had a similar loss; each silently respecting the other for overcoming their losses and working to prevent them in the future, within the Order.

By the time the weekend had rolled around, Katherine was ecstatic to get out of Hogwarts and breathe in some fresher air. When she'd attended Hogwarts herself as a student, at least she'd been able to play Quidditch to taste fresh air – she did so with James and Sirius often, as she was rather talented at playing seeker and chaser. During house games, where she would play for Gryffindor, she was obviously a chaser, Sirius was a beater, and James was the seeker – however in the trio's personal games, James and Katherine would compete for the snitch, whilst Sirius would try to hit them out of the sky.

Remus preferred to stay on the ground, and without it needing to be said, Peter did also.

It did, however, take rather a long time on Saturday to finish marking all of the written Defence Against the Dark Arts work that Umbridge had so _kindly_ given her. Due to her promise to Dumbledore to remain as an inconspicuous eye, she accepted the workload – not that Umbridge had given her opportunity to say 'no'. The woman was quickly becoming powerful, and she knew it. She often had a gleam in her eye which raised alarm-bells in Katherine's head, and she made a mental note to monitor how much power the woman gained carefully.

When she had finally laid the last piece of parchment, which she had _generously_ graded a 'D', (Dreadful), down, she stood from her desk in her empty classroom and walked to the regal man's portrait, slipping through it into her living quarters. Katherine closed the portrait behind her and grabbed the vial of Wolfsbane potion, stuffing it into her robes, before heading over to the fireplace. She'd been delayed long enough in tasting her freedom, and practically hoisted her wand out of her robes to open the Floo network. It was safe to say that even in a week she'd missed Sirius and Remus more than she thought she would; she absolutely did not know how she'd gone fifteen years without them.

"12 Grimmauld Place, London." She whispered, giddily throwing Floo powder into the fireplace and disappearing in a roaring green flame.

* * *

The first thing Katherine realised, upon her arrival, was the fact that she had appeared in the fireplace in Mrs Black's room, instead of the generally used fireplace in the living room. Heck, even when she Floo-called, Katherine found her vision in there, rather than in this empty, near enough abandoned, bedroom.

_Why on earth?_

She brushed herself off and crept past Mrs Black so that the loud woman stayed quiet – murmuring to herself occasionally behind the drawn curtains. Katherine still wasn't quite sure why Sirius bothered with them – they weren't particularly effective at cutting off her shouts, and were rather ugly if she did say so; the brown, dull pattern arguably even more dreary with the thin layer of dust that lined them.

Walking cautiously down the steps with the array of mounted house-elf heads on the wall, Katherine realised that someone was indeed using the Floo system, but to call someone. She could tell this by the fact that there would be the occasional mutter – and then silence – followed by further muttering. From the deep voice, she could guess that it was either a man, or a very manly woman, and seeing as she did not know any 'manly women' to have stepped into Grimmauld place, other than one of Sirius' many prejudice aunts, she presumed that it was a man. As she snuck closer and closer, she realised that she was correct, and began to be able to make out the one-sided conversation.

"-Just an idea, thought you might like to get together."

A long silence sounded, and Katherine began to wonder if she should enter the room. She didn't hear the generally accepted 'pop' of an ending conversation, but Katherine considered that perhaps she had missed it.

"You're less like your father than I thought," The voice started again, abruptly; and the snappy tone informed Katherine that the person in the fire must have been Sirius, bringing immediate concern to her features. "The risk would have made it fun for James."

_He's talking to Harry?_

_He's saying THAT to Harry?_

_The sod!_

"Well, I'd better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs." Said Sirius, and Katherine almost snorted at his terrible excuse, "I'll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to risk it?"

The tell-tale _pop_ sounded as Sirius withdrew his head from the fire, and he immediately placed it between his knees, his black hair falling messily over his face.

"Well that was harsh, Sirius." Said Katherine, and Sirius' head snapped up to see her disapproving expression, "Don't you think?"

"No." Said Sirius, stroppily, in a manner that reminded her of some of the teenagers she taught. "He shut down meeting up at Hogsmeade-"

"As he should have." Katherine looked at him, her face firm, but kind. "I know you miss him, Sirius, but he's being the responsible one here. He can't be as reckless as James – he doesn't have Moony to keep him grounded!"

"He has Hermione!"

"You know that's not the same." She walked over to Sirius and sat next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him to her, "He stays alive, and you stay out of Azkaban this way, okay?"

"Not really." He said, but relaxed against her shoulder regardless, "...I shouldn't have made that jibe about James though. I just miss him, you know? Hell, I just hate being alone."

"I know."

"I'm worried about Harry." Sirius admitted quietly, as though he would rather not have said anything at all.

"Why?"

"His scar's been playing up again." Said Sirius, lifting his head off of Katherine's shoulder and looking into her eyes seriously, "Didn't he tell you? Apparently during his detention with that Ministry woman. That's why I Floo-called – it was the least traceable method of communication."

Katherine's eyebrows pressed together in a frown. "He mentioned the detention, but not the scar. How did he contact you?"

"Owl."

Silence sounded for a moment and Katherine bit her lip in thought. _Why would his scar have burned?_

"She's not a Death-Eater." Said Sirius, his face serious, "I told Harry much the same. She's too trusted by the Ministry to be one. The Ministry of Magic might be harsh, but they're not a stupid group of people."

"You're right." Katherine paused, "But-"

"But?"

"Umbridge has been changing a lot of things at Hogwarts." Said Katherine finally, looking at Sirius worriedly, "Dumbledore and I are concerned that Death-Eaters are integrating themselves into the Ministry – if they gather too much control, it also means that they have the potential to try and take-"

"Hogwarts." Sirius finished, his eyes narrowed, "It makes sense. If the Death-Eaters are already having an impact on Ministry practises, it would certainly explain why Harry's scar hurt."

"I'm going to stay at Hogwarts only a little longer." Said Katherine, "See if anything changes. You ought to be careful about Floo-calling Hogwarts, Sirius. I know I won't be able to stop you-" Sirius grinned, "But be careful, alright? I still hadn't managed to figure out a plan to bust you out by the time you escaped Azkaban last time."

"You wanted to bust me out?" Sirius asked, amused.

"Of course I did. Oh, and Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't go telling everyone about the stuff going on with the speculation on Death-Eaters at the Ministry, and at Hogwarts, okay? It's all under wraps – Dumbledore didn't want me to talk about it with anyone, actually."

Instead of looking affronted at the suggestion, Sirius actually looked rather proud, his chest puffing up slightly.

"Alright there Mr Ego." Said Katherine, noticing Sirius' subconscious movements, "Cool your jets."

"It's not my fault you trust me." Said Sirius, grinning widely, his dour mind-set supposedly forgotten.

A loud 'bang' from the kitchen disrupted their conversation, and Katherine's eyebrows shot up her forehead.

"What was that?"

"Moony." Said Sirius with a frown, "He's supposed to be cooking tonight."

"Oh, brilliant!" Katherine stood, brushing herself down and smiling at Sirius, noting however, the fact that he once again looked miserable. "Won't be long!"

* * *

"Moony!" Katherine called as she walked into the kitchen, and Remus almost dropped the packet of pasta he was carrying, "Got your witches brew!"

"Witches brew?" He raised an eyebrow, making a noise of recognition when Katherine withdrew the deep, purple potion that he recognised as Wolfsbane from inside her robes.

"There are some instructions on it or something... I don't know, but the civility worked!"

"Thanks, Mane! This is a lovely surprise- I can't believe you managed to be nice!" Said Remus, smiling.

Katherine frowned. "I told Sirius that I'd reached an agreement a few days ago, didn't he tell you?"

"No?"

"Why are you asking me! I'm asking you!"

"Well then, no!" Said Remus, more assuredly, chuckling slightly as he poured some dry pasta into boiling water. "Staying for dinner?"

"If you don't mind." Katherine replied, thoughtful, "I wonder _why_ he didn't tell you – it doesn't seem like him-"

"Oh, contraire." Remus grinned, "It sounds _exactly_ like Sirius."

Narrowing her eyes in confusion, Katherine looked as though she were staring at Remus' pasta stirring with rapt attention. If one knew her well, however, which Moony of course, did, they would know that she had actually drifted off into thought, and wasn't actually focusing her attentions on where her gaze was directed at all. Katherine had once admitted to the fact that the habit was how she had escaped many a detention.

"Huh?"

"That's the best you could do?" Remus looked at her, amused, "'_Huh?_'"

"Why is Sirius being snippy with you a normality?"

"Not just me," Said Remus, "I'm sure it would be the same no matter what man it was."

"But why? Can you stop speaking in riddles? I'm bad with riddles." Katherine complained, miserably.

"Quite obviously."

"Being irritating again, Moony?" Asked Sirius, standing in the doorway, his expression stoic, though Remus and Katherine could both see anger clouding his eyes.

"Nope, just pointing out the obvious." Said Remus.

"What's obvious?"

"Your idiotic cowardice, and Katie's lack of female intuition." Remus smirked, knowingly.

Sirius' eyes widened and Katherine looked offended.

"I have intuition!"

"How did you-" Sirius demanded, ignoring Katherine's protests, "I mean, I barely even realised-"

"You're an open book." Said Remus, smiling more genuinely, draining the pasta into an industrial sized sink before proceeding to add half a tin of ready-made, creamy sauce to it. "I'm good with books."

"Of course you are..." Said Sirius scathingly, huffing and folding his arms over his chest.

Growing increasingly annoyed with the somewhat private conversation going on right before her eyes, Katherine glared at the two men menacingly, not that they were looking at her. She had no idea about what the two were referring to and every time she opened her mouth to ask, she was cut off by another witty retort or reply from one of the two men.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, frustrated.

Sirius' eyes met hers, but Remus simply continued to make his pasta – a small smile gracing his face. As Katherine looked more closely at Sirius, she could see that his expression held one of an internal debate – like half of him wanted to tell her what he was thinking, and half of him was refusing to. Of course, this only riled Katherine further; to know that she was so close, yet so far, from what she wanted to know.

"WOULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING O-"

Any further bellowing Katherine might have had was cut off as Sirius' warm lips suddenly crashed to hers.

* * *

Katherine froze in shock. She felt a little bad about being so terribly unresponsive in hindsight, but at the time she couldn't even hold a coherent thought, let alone carry out any kind of action. From the way that Remus had dropped the vast dish of just-finished pasta to the floor with a loud 'clang', it was obvious that he had not been expecting Sirius to be so forward either.

As abruptly as the kiss started, it finished; Sirius pulling away with a rather obvious flush to his face – embarrassed at the fact that he had not thought of his action's consequences. It was also obvious, by the look on his face, that he had expected Katherine to respond well and hadn't prepared for the other option of rejection.

"Do you understand now?" Sirius asked, breathlessly, attempting to quell the urge he immediately had to repeat the action.

Katherine was silent for a moment, allowing everything to click into place properly before she nodded.

She realised, suddenly, that she felt exactly the same way as the man in front of her, now shuffling from foot to foot nervously, did. It was an idea that she'd long ago dismissed; the idea of ever being with Sirius Black – The most wanted boy in Gryffindor; scrap that, Hogwarts; to being the most wanted man in the world, for an entirely different reason, after he had been convicted for crimes he didn't commit. Never in a million years did Katherine even allow herself to consider a relationship with the man– even for a moment, but when she realised that the warmth and tingling on her lips was still lingering from his kiss – her heart was beating ten times as fast as it would usually have beaten, and her stomach was filled with warm butterflies, that she felt more than a platonic relationship had actually existed for a very long time.

It was with that revelation that she took a step towards an oddly patient Sirius, grasped his cheeks in two delicate hands, and bought his lips back to hers.

It was also, with that, that Remus dropped whatever pasta he had been able to save with a rather un-Remus-like exclamation of '_Bollocks!_'


	8. Trust

A/N- Hey lovelies; It's been a while! Thanks for holding out on me and waiting, thank you for continuing to leave reviews, and thanks for the continual support! I AM STILL WRITING THIS STORY; Albeit immensely slowly. I hope that the chapter will ultimately be worth the wait!

PLEASE DO REVIEW / +FAV / + STORY ALERT / + AUTHOR ALERT

Forever thanks!

* * *

-CHAPTER EIGHT-

_Trust_

The next few weeks flew by in much the same way as before. Despite the fact that Katherine had wholeheartedly admitted to her more romantic feelings about Sirius Black, they still did not date as Sirius seemed too nervy to ask her to date; or perhaps regretted his actions in the first place. As to which was true, Katherine still found herself unsure.

Shaking her head, Katherine forgot about Sirius for a moment, stalking down the hallways of Hogwarts towards the dungeons. There were far more concerning things that she felt the need to focus on – making sure Moony had his monthly 'fix' of Wolfsbane; keeping an eye on Harry, and making sure that his Defence Against the Dark Arts group, which he'd informed her about on their last meeting and had nicknamed 'Dumbledore's Army', was not in any way dangerous or threatening to the students, _as well as_ keeping a steady eye on the demon herself, Delores Umbridge, who only seemed capable of gaining more and more power as time went on.

_Damn the Ministry._

"Hey Sev." Said Katherine, swinging open the heavy door to the potions dungeons and stepping through. Over the past few weeks, a more 'friendly' than 'civil' relationship had formed between the two adults; the past was never discussed, no heavily personal details either, but a mutual understanding and care for the other's wellbeing had been formed. "Got the stuff for-"

With nimble, gnarled fingers, Severus tossed the vial of purple liquid at Katherine, which she caught easily. She noticed that he was wearing his murderous 'I'm a pissed off professor, get out' expression, which wasn't a good thing for two reasons. For one, it meant that if Harry had scored detention with Severus, which he quite possibly had, he might not make it out alive. Secondly, it implied that whatever had angered Severus had really made him _extremely _annoyed – which was hard to do; even harder now that he was a grown and serious adult. Whatever had caused his anger was quite possibly a threat to Hogwarts.

…And Harry.

"Bee in your bonnet?"

"What?" Severus snapped, whipping his head around to look at her, his black eyes somehow more threatening than they had ever been.

"It's a muggle expression." She replied quickly, as he was quite clearly in no mood for her teasing. "What's up with you?"

"That busy bodied, pompous, cantankerous she-devil." Severus sneered, shrinking into the chair that sat behind his desk – placing his head in shaking hands, "_Delores."_

"Delores?" Said Katherine, her eyebrows raised, although she wasn't actually too surprised. After all, she'd known that the woman _was_ everywhere.

"Yes." Severus snarled, looking up and glaring in Katherine's direction, "Her. Sticking her nose where it doesn't belong; having the _audacity_ to point out my past _failures _in front of my class! How dare she – the insolent cow of a woman-"

"Sev-" Katherine cut him off, rubbing a couple of fingers across her temple to massage her brow, but was cut off by Severus slamming his hand angrily onto his messy, paper filled desk.

His dark eyes lifted to meet hers – a fire – not a passionate one, but an angry one – behind them as he stared at her.

"Don't. Call. Me. That."

Katherine paused for a moment, paralysed almost, in response to feeling the brunt of Severus' anger. Both occupants in the room stood – Severus, now hunched over the desk, his sinewy arms supporting his weight, his breath coming in heavy, long pants – Katherine, stood stock still, arms by her sides, breathing slow and deep.

"Now I know-" Severus said, his panting still loud and obvious, "That you can't do anything about it – Merlin knows I can't either and I'm not looking for your sympathy, so _please_ just _leave._"

As much as she wanted to stay, and find out exactly why Umbridge's visit had angered Snape quite the way it had, Katherine chose to leave whilst she still had her limbs attached to her torso; and whilst Severus' expression read pleading as opposed to the anger it had only a moment prior. Tucking the Wolfsbane into her robes, she muttered a hurried 'okay', before turning and fleeing from the dungeons; robes billowing behind her.

* * *

Katherine's day had gotten increasingly worse as time went on, and her before optimistic attitude had faded as quickly as it had come. She found herself annoyed with the slightest of things- from finding students playing 'tongue hockey' in the corridors to finding out that Harry hadn't told her about yet another detention with the she-devil herself; to which Katherine had, in response, grumpily fixed Harry's wounds and sent him off scowling as her bad mood passed onto him.

After travelling back to Grimmauld place, things hadn't much improved. Her robes suffered burns from flooing, which was so _rare_ that it was barely ever mentioned as a risk, Moony hadn't even been in to receive his Wolfsbane as he was supposedly running errands, and Sirius had been avoiding her since their… 'Incident', in the kitchen, although honestly, Katherine simply wanted him to come running down the stairs and kiss her.

Scowling, Katherine flopped onto one of the couches by the fire that had seemed so comforting before, but in a silent, cold house – like Grimmauld Place currently was – it was easy to just see them as ugly, uncomfortable dust magnets. The fire flickering in the fireplace that had seemed ever-warm and welcoming was now simply a method of casting haunting shadows onto the ash-covered walls which Katherine found herself drawn to; her pessimistic thoughts running havoc in her mind; taunting her continually.

The heavy door of the house opening and closing drew Katherine's attention, and she kept her ears peeled for signs of a threat. Her hand drifted instinctively down to the intricate carved wood and silver decorated wand that was hidden within her robes, her head turning automatically to the door closest to where she was sat.

Footsteps sounded through the echoing halls, and Katherine's grip on her wand tightened as they grew closer and closer to where she sat.

Closer.

Then closer still-

A moment later and someone did indeed open the door, but no-one of any particular threat. Katherine let out a silent breath of relief at the appearance of Remus' head, whose expression changed to a meek, guilty one on realising Katherine's uptight, cautious own.

"Knock knock?"

"Hey Moony." Said Katherine, taking her hand away from the wand concealed in her robes and using it to run through her hair instead, detangling it slightly.

"Sorry for startling you." Remus said, stepping into the room and sitting on an armchair next to the sofa that Katherine occupied.

"Nah, don't worry about it." She said, her brow furrowed as she ran her fingertips over her forehead, "I'm just on edge."

"Bad day?"

"The worst." Katherine nodded, now simply using her hand to support her chin as her elbow rested on the sofa's arm, "Things have been going wrong since Snivellus decided to be a jerk; now I just have this… _Feeling_ that something _terrible_ is going to happen…"

"A 'feeling'?" Moony raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Said Katherine, grimacing, "Sounds lame, right? I mean what am I, a seer? I just don't know how to explain it…"

The foreboding angst that had been the true source of Katherine's pessimism was increasingly obvious, and where before, she'd simply thought she was in a bad mood, she realised now that it was actually an odd sense of over-looming fear. Fear wasn't something Katherine ever really liked to admit feeling – and she supposed that stubbornness had been part of the reason for her sorting into Gryffindor. To Katherine, fear was a sign of weakness, and it was something she protected herself from at all costs after the death of James.

"Hey," Said Remus, who'd moved onto the sofa next to Katherine to snap her out of her ruse, and Katherine realised from her rapid breathing that she'd begun what had seemed to be the beginnings of a panic attack, "It's okay-"

"No, it's not and you know it." Katherine rambled, before creasing her face up, "Or maybe you don't. I don't know – maybe someone in my family was a seer or something, but the last time I had this… _feeling_, Lily and James _died_, Remus. What if someone is currently _dying_?"

Remus' face was pale. "How much do you know about your family?"

"Obviously not enough." She replied, leaning into Moony whose arm was around her shoulders, "I didn't like them. They wanted me to be something I hated. I ran."

"Like Black?"

"Yeah." Katherine looked up, confused for a moment, "Haven't I told you this before?" She sat up further, and looked as Remus incredulously, "And since when do you refer to Sirius as 'Black'?"

"Since… Probably forever, actually." Said Remus, grinning a very _un-_Remus-like grin before standing and stretching his arms above his head. "And, nope; don't think you have told me this before. Bit of a shame, actually- if you'd told me you were a potential seer before, I probably would have turned up for you a bit earlier…"

Katherine froze, her eyes wide and focused on the malicious version of Remus that stood in front of her. "Wh-who are you?"

"Oh, _ouch_." 'Remus'' hand drifted to his chest, an off-putting, teeth revealing grin crossing his face, "I'm wounded. _Really_. I know it's been a little while – you really are a _slippery git_ when you want to be, Kate, but it's really no excuse to forget-"

"V-Vince?" Katherine stuttered, the familiar nick-name driving her long forgotten and heavily buried memories to the forefront of her mind.

"You _do_ remember!" Said Vince – still embodied as Remus – as he clapped his hands together, his grin frozen onto his face. "I knew you wouldn't forget… Sibling bonds and all that jazz; you know the stories-"

"You're one of them?" She blurted, interrupting Vince suddenly, "You- You turned into-"

"A Death-Eater?" Said Vince, loftily, "Oh, yes! Yes I did!"

"Why?"

Vince's grin wavered momentarily. "What do you mean, _why_?"

"You were going to run with me-" Katherine stood bravely, ignoring the horrible natural urge that her legs had, to begin shaking wildly. "You said- You said we were going to run together; escape it all-"

"Yes, and you did a bloody good job of it, didn't you?" Vince snapped, his grin firmly back on his face and a direct – particularly scary – oxymoron to the sharpness of his tone, "Ran away, leaving _little ol' me_ with the endless curses; the torture; the ruddy _Lord of Darkness_, right? You got to run away with your prissy little Gryffindor friends and live a life as a bloody queen of innocence, din'tcha?"

"I-"

"Right!" He said, not bothering to listen to Katherine's reply. "You _did_!"

Katherine's head, meanwhile, was spinning. Her brother, her _older brother_, someone she'd completely _forgotten_ about was standing in front of her and blaming her – partially correctly – for his becoming of a Death-Eater. When she'd been young, she hadn't ever considered how running would affect the rest of her family; she simply thought they wouldn't care; but from Vince's reaction, she realised that she was sorely mistaken. To make matters worse, the only logical part of her brain she had left had absolutely no idea about how to rectify the situation.

"See," Vince continued, not visibly noting how Katherine's legs really had started to become weak at this point, hands shaking slightly, and face paling to the largest degree. "You gave up on me; suppose you expected _big brother_ to be able to take care of himself, hm?"

A large, calloused hand – _Remus' hand_ – attached itself to Katherine's arm. "The rest of the family have given up on you… Know that? _You're_ the reject – not me! But I'm also no _hypocrite_…"

"What are you saying Vince?" Said Katherine, sharply, managing to gain some of her confidence back as she realised what Vince was implying. She shook her arm slightly to try and free it, but his grip was steely.

"I'm _saying-_"Vince tightened his grip, "Would you stop that struggling? Worse than a cat you are… Ha! Your Patronus _is_ a cat so I suppose it's only to be expected!"

Katherine complied, for fear that Vince's fingers would tear through her skin, and he rewarded her with a satisfied grin.

"Good girl! See, Kate, this might work! Or not… Where was I? Oh yes, hypocrites, right!" Vince's brain worked at one-million-miles per hour, and the erratic behaviour of it put Katherine's mind at little ease. "See I refuse, _wholeheartedly,_ to be a hypocrite and follow in _your_ footsteps… Honey. So here's what's gonna happen… You're gonna come with me- willingly, _unwillingly_, I don't care; and you're going to stand by my side, as my _loyal _little sister until the day you drop, down, _dead._ Because unlike _you_, I'm going to prove that you're still capable of being a damned Mercer."

"But why, Vince?" Katherine asked quickly, in a last ditch attempt to remain where she was. "Why can't you just stay here – run from it all? Why _didn't _you?"

"I lost the only bravery I had, Kate." Said Vince, his voice eerily serious for a moment, expression suddenly stoic; scarily remnant of the brother Katherine had once known. "I wasn't in Gryffindor for a reason. You were the voice of good, and brave, and _pure_ and you _fucking ran_. Now, I've got this traceable piece of _ink_ on my arm because I was tired of being cursed, and whipped, and I was too bloody _cowardice_ to do anything about it."

All of a sudden, the Vince Katherine had remembered was, once again, gone; in his place, the grinning Death-Eater creation that seemed almost bi-polar in nature.

"Right, that'll be all then? Come on Minion, we've got places to be, people to see – curses to receive, no doubt!"

Vince began to tug her towards the fireplace, supposedly so that he could floo away with her in tow, but Katherine couldn't help but attempt to struggle away, as futile as she knew her attempts would be. She hurriedly took the Wolfsbane from her pocket and threw it at the sofa so that Moony wouldn't have to suffer in her absence, before beginning to shout in a useless manner; hoping to _somehow_ be saved.

"SIRIUS-"She shouted, now dangerously close to the fire-place, her eyes wide on her brother's hand, which had just grabbed a handful of floo-powder to toss into the fire, "I KNOW YOU HATE ME BUT GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE OTHERWISE I SWEAR YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A FATE WORSE THAT AZKABA-

"MERCER MANOR!"

In an explosion of flames, a malicious grin, and a wide, fiery eyed expression, Katherine's fate was in no-ones hands but her own.

* * *

A/N #2 - Anyone hate me yet? CLIFFHANGER OH SHIZ


	9. Discovery

A/N - Hey guys! It's been a while... As always, I guess! If you're still reading, thanks for hanging in there! Hang in there for just a little longer, we're getting close to the end! Xxx

**+Author Alert | +Favourite | +Story Alert | (PLEASE) +Comment**

* * *

-CHAPTER NINE-

_Discovery_

"_Who does he think he is?"_

"_Oh, come now. Let the boy have his laughs. Does it really matter whether or not he's run off? You know he'll be back."_

"_But when?"_

"_Well… If he doesn't return soon, I'm sure the Lord won't be most impressed. His mark will burn; then he'll be back like a snitch."_

"D'ya hear that?"

Vince – now with the face Katherine remembered - snarled in her general direction, face cold with an emotion she couldn't describe, as they floo'd into an unfamiliar room. It was too much to hope for that she would have been able to recognise her surroundings and plot an escape – Katherine knew that now. She distinctly recognised that one of the voices that had been speaking before was her father's; the other, too, scarily familiar. Katherine was reluctant to, and therefore refused, to name the other for fear that she may be correct.

"Sounds like they're thinking about telling mouldy that I've done a runner!"

Vince clapped his hand tigher around Katherine's shoulder and began steering her out of the room that they had been stood in and down a lavish looking hallway. She decided not to struggle, as that clearly didn't help her before, and simply assisted in making herself appear weaker than she wished to be perceived.

"I wonder if they'll be impressed…" Vince was now muttering to himself at this point; resigned to the fact that Katherine herself was currently mute. "Doubt it. Curses are probably in order… I wonder which one's they'll ch- Ah! I guess we'll find out!"

One of Vince's large, calloused hands rested heavily on a large oak door.

"Right about… Now."

The door swung open, clattering against the wall, and in front of Katherine stood an abnormally extravagant sitting room; decorated in silvers, creams and emerald greens.

_Slytherins_.

Eyes lifting from the furniture, Katherine found herself met with two surprised expressions – one more amused than the other – and another, less surprised, more amused glance.

The two surprised expressions belonged, one, to her father – who looked much the same as ever; dark auburn coloured hair much like her own dusting his neck as it fell messily above his grey eyes and pointed nose. He looked slightly more gaunt and wrinkled than she remembered, but Katherine supposed that it would only have been expected from someone who worked alongside the Dark Lord.

The amused glance belonged to an, ever demonic, Lucius Malfoy. Katherine looked away from him quickly – eyes darting towards the remaining person; the appearance of whom made her heart sink in her chest.

Standing there, his black eyes wide with what she assumed to be a mixture of both horror and shock, was Severus Snape – old foe, newly found friend and ally.

Katherine didn't blame him. It was unbeknownst to many Death-Eaters and wizards alike that a Mercer girl existed, let alone for it to have been Katherine. Their surnames? But an unlucky coincidence, perhaps some distant relation. Even whilst Katherine had lived with her family, her outlandish spontaneities made it so that her parents kept her existence quiet, and that was simply made easier as Katherine exiled herself upon sorting. In fact, the only people who truly knew of her existence was the Mercer's themselves, Lucius Malfoy, and whoever Katherine had told – friends, teachers and associates.

She hadn't, however, quite gotten around to telling Snape.

"There was reason for my absence!" The loud booming voice of Katherine's brother came from behind her as his hand left her shoulder and came back down on it in a clap – a possessive gesture? "I found Katie!"

"You bought back the _reject_ child?" Her father's shock suddenly deteriorated into disgust at the mention of her name. "You idiot boy! I don't want her!"

"Be calm for a moment." Said Lucius, his crooked grin becoming wicked and threatening, "perhaps we can keep her here for… Other… Uses…"

"No." Her father said sharply and suddenly, Katherine's breath releasing itself from where she didn't know she had been keeping it held. "I don't care _how_ attracted to her you are, Lucius, she's still… Related… to me – and for the sake of genetic perseverance, nothing of… _That_ nature can occur."

"Nothing of any sort, can occur."

Katherine's eyebrows shot up at the statement, for it has come from not who she had expected. Instead of the somewhat smarmy potions master watching out for her wellbeing, it appeared that it was her brother supposedly defending her.

"Vince-" Her father spoke, voice gravelly with an unspoken threat as Lucius simply smirked. "This… _Traitor,_ cannot be treated with anything but contempt!"

"Yet, as you just, politely, pointed out-" Vince's hand lifted from her shoulder to pat Katherine lightly; condescendingly, on the head. "She's still my biological sister."

Katherine didn't know where the conversation was going, and that had her extremely wary. She daren't trust her brother too much, for fear that he would turn his back on her and either leave her to whatever Lucius, her father, or even Severus would dream up – and she couldn't shake the feeling that he _wasn't_ throwing her a life-line. After all, he had – only moments before – disguised himself as her best friend, kidnapped her and brought her, like a mouse, into a den of angry lions.

_Ironic._

"Nope." Vince broke the silence that had fallen, wrapping an arm around Katherine's shoulders before leading her through the room. "She's a new recruit. I'll teach her the ways; she'll be one of the best, and then the Dark Lord will see what _fools_ you've been for hiding her existence – never bothering to look."

Katherine's heart sunk, once more.

"Come along, minion." Said her brother, giving her no choice in the matter and simply opting to lead her from the room, "You've got someone to meet!

* * *

Remus rubbed his head, waking up to, and then waiting for, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place to form. His wand was clutched tightly in his strong hands, his expression morphed into one of distain as he stared angrily at the builds; tall, innocent enough, yet foul looking. Of course, it wasn't _their_ fault that he'd been assaulted whilst he was simply out to buy the daily prophet from a news-stand, as his owl was elsewhere, and he wasn't a subscriber. It wasn't the building's fault that he'd found himself waking up – faced down in an alley way – although he was absolutely fine, bar being a little crumpled and having had a pretty terrible headache. Nor was it the build's fault that a clump of his hair was missing, and a churning feeling let itself wreak havoc on his stomach.

No. The buildings were not to blame for Remus' uncharacteristic bad mood. But he had a terrible feeling that whatever did was on the other side of the door to Twelve Grimmauld Place.

Marching up the path with heavy footsteps, Remus muttered a rather grouchy 'Alohamora' and proceeded to swing the heavy entrance door open, regardless of the creaking noise it made as it did so, the loud 'bang' that the door made as it hit the wall, or the sound of Sirius' mother beginning to screech for dear life.

"SIRIUS- I KNOW YOU HATE ME BUT GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE OTHERWISE I SWEAR-"

Remus panicked, hearing Mane's somewhat frantic shouting, and he began walking towards the sound – hurriedly, yet cautiously.

"YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A FATE WORSE THAT AZKABA-"

"MERCER MANOR!"

A loud voice shouted over the top of Mane's yells, and Remus stopped in the doorway only a moment later, in time to see the dying out of green flames that her certainly been caused by floo.

For a moment, Remus was confused. The voice, which has definitely been male, was familiar, yet he couldn't put a name to it. And if the voice was familiar, why did Katherine sound so frantic?

"Curious…" Remus muttered, before he suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth, eyes, all of a sudden, wide with terror.

"The voice-" He murmured, although his hand didn't stray very far from her mouth at all. "How could it have been _mine_? Unless-"

Remus' hand drifted to the bald spot on his head, in the process revealing his mouth which was slightly open in realisation.

"Oh dear Merlin, SIRIUS!" Remus bellowed, his eyes unwilling to accept what was in front of him – refusing to believe his suspicions. "Get down here, _NOW_!"

"_What_?" Sirius shouted back, sending his door flying open as he almost ripped it from its hinges with his bare hands. "What do you people want from me?!"

"Mane's gone, you_ git_!" Remus yelled back angrily, his voice dropping to a murmur as Sirius' shuffled footsteps came close and he appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What do you mean she's 'gone'?!"

"Did you not hear her shouting? She's _gone,_ Sirius- floo'd. Sounds as though she was strugglin-"

By now, Remus has been cut off – the lapels of his jacket grabbed by Sirius – and slammed against the wall, as Sirius was oblivious to his head injury.

"_What are you trying to say_?"

"Mane was probably taken by force."

"What evidence do you have?!" Sirius seethed, still unaware of Remus' pain in the sheer terror that his suspicions had been confirmed. "How can you be so sure?!"

"Apart from the obvious signs of a struggle?" Remus replied scathingly, his hand drifting to the patch of baldness that was increasingly painful, "What about the patch of hair that is currently missing it's place on my head?!"

Sirius' eyes widened, and he jerked Remus' head forwards quickly to observe it for himself. As he did, he let out a string of curses and a loud roar, turning suddenly and knocking an, almost certainly expensive, family heirloom off its place. He watched it fall and smash against the floor, his eyes practically red.

What had it been? A vase? Did it even _matter_?

Sirius stormed angrily into the sitting room, taking in the broken pot of floo powder and the roaring fireplace, which continued to crackle loudly, regardless of the recent loss that had befallen 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Where did they go?" Sirius asked, suddenly solemn, "Did you catch it?"

Remus had followed him in, his own expression one of anguish.

"No." He replied, "I caught 'manor', but the word in front was lost to the flames."

Sirius stared at the fireplace for a few moments before eventually opting to collapse onto the sofa behind him and bury his head in his hands.

"What have I done, Moony?"

Silence ensued as for one, Remus' anger belayed logical thinking. He blamed Sirius – he could have saved her; Merlin, he blamed himself. If he hadn't gone to get that blasted paper-

"It's both of our faults." Said Remus, turning away from the fireplace to sit next to Sirius and catching a glint of purple from the worn brown fabric of the sofa.

"What the-" Remus began, but quickly silenced himself. "Oh, Mane…"

"What?" Sirius' neck snapped round at the name.

"Wolfsbane." Remus replied, grabbing the bottle from the sofa and rolling it between his fingers. "Looks like it was thrown."

"Her priorities are so bloody skewed." Sighed Sirius, exasperatedly, returning his head to his hands.

"Sure." Replied Remus, "She's one of the least overtly caring people I know, but she's undoubtedly selfless once she likes you."

This, strangely enough, did not make Sirius feel any better.

* * *

Katherine grimaced, muscles sore; head groggy. For a moment, as she opened her eyes, she had no idea where she lay. The carpet, a faded blue, walls an outdated egg-shell pink… She realised with a sigh that she was in _her_ room. Well… Katherine considered that it was as much hers as a room could be after her previous exiling.

That's when she felt it.

A dull ache in her arm – her _left _arm. All of a sudden the pain increased tenfold – becoming burning, an agonising, blinding pain.

Katherine grit her teeth and growled, fighting the feral instinct that she has to scream and tuck herself into a tight ball. Her breathing became rapidly heavy, fast intense breaths ripping through her lungs.

As soon as she could force them open from where they had been screwed shut in agony, her eyes snapped to her arm; in fear of what was causing her such intense pain.

Katherine's scream was nothing to do with pain.

"Hey, minion, would you mind _shutting up_ over there?"

Her muscles sagged, shoulders falling after the huge release of emotion. Never in her life before had Katherine felt so defeated, but as memories of the night before flooded into her mind, her resolve cracked.

The brave, fearless, _strong_ lioness that was Katherine Mercer had fallen.

"That's a good little kitten, aye?" Vince pet her head, as if adding insult to injury. Katherine flinched at the contact, partly from pain and partially from disgust. "Oh, yeah. Wicked hangover like thing, right? Yeah… I remember that after my first Imperius curse; that'll take some getting used to. The aches from the Cruciatus? You'll have to learn to live with those-"

"What… Have… You… Done… To… Me?" Katherine ground out, panting with exhaustion, expression murderous.

"Only what I promised!" Vince raised his hands innocently, but his eyes held poorly hidden malice, mixed with some sick kind of amusement. "Welcome!"

"Wel… come?" Katherine questioned, refusing to give any unnecessary attentions to the pain in her ribs.

"Yep." Said Vince, "Welcome to '_The Other Side'_. Now get some sleep. Something tells me you've got a _lot_ to learn, and at the moment, no energy to do it with."

Katherine's head slumped back to the floor where it had begun, her eyes unable to drift from the glaringly obvious black mark, raw with pain, that now marred her pale skin.


End file.
